A Moonless Night
by paddy lover1417
Summary: Strange things are happening to Selene. Whispers of an ancient magic, sacrifice, and a young werewolf. It's never a dull moment with the moon out.I don't own Harry Potter or any Harry Potter characters.
1. A Snake of a Different Skine

Chapter 1: A Snake of a different Skin

It had suddenly occurred to Selene that Remus Lupin was a darling boy. Well, it hadn't suddenly occurred. That somewhat implied that she had been walking down the hall stuck in la-la land completely unaware of those around her when suddenly BAM! A lightning bolt hit her in the shoulder and she suddenly realized that the sky was blue, the grass was green, and Remus was darling. It was really more accurate to say that she had been staring dreamily out of the window during charms class when she heard the chuckles and snickers of boys below her. No longer in her reverie, she looked down to see the marauders lying in the sun, shirts off. James Potter and Sirius Black, always the couple of the group, were lavishing in their manliness by hitting a bludger back and forth with bats they had likely stolen from their last practice. Next to them Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin sat looking in a book. Peter looked as if he would get whiplash soon from the way he turned his head quickly from the book to watch Sirius and James with wide, praising eyes. Remus seemed not to notice. That is until the bludger zoomed up away from Sirius' bat and straight towards the charms window Selene was looking out of. Remus jumped up, pointing and saying something smart to Sirius who looked sheepishly at him. Selene couldn't help but notice that Remus had a scar on his arm in a circle like a moon. It glinted in the sun, a few shades lighter then the rest of his tan skin. Selene let out a curse word and pulled herself back into the classroom, just as the bludger zipped past a moment later. The whole class looked at her confused, but she hardly noticed.

The real reason why it wasn't as if she'd been struck by a realization about Remus Lupin was that she already had been thinking about it. She had been thinking and realizing it since she was seven years old in the same neighborhood as eight-year old Remus. They had been best friends for a bit. Playing in the mud and trees of the back forest behind their row of houses. They had imagined fairies and vampires. They had even once seen a unicorn, vowing to find it again. They never had. A year later he moved away and no one would tell her why, though adults did stop talking for a bit when she came in the room, as if there was a reason she couldn't know. Whatever that was she didn't know. She did know that since she'd come to Hogwarts, she had seen Remus around but wasn't sure if he remembered her. After all, that had been ages and ages ago. And she liked to think she looked different. Her once light brown hair had darkened with age into long wavy black hair and her olive skin had darkened a bit further from playing quidditch with her younger brothers. She had definitely grown, though she wasn't quite as tall as him. And her tomboy grin with her front teeth missing had also changed. Overall, the sixteen-year old Selene was much more grown up then the seven year old Selene.

Which is why she had never gotten the courage to walk up to Remus and remind him whom she was, nor was she surprised when he didn't notice her. Not that he had much opportunity. After all, since they were a year apart and in different houses, they didn't have much occasion to run into one another. "What can you expect," Narcissa had said with a shrug at Selene's confession the first day they had met. "We Slytherins and those Gryffindors don't hang out that much. It's best this way." It was true, what Narcissa had said. Selene was continually reminded of this by the way that Narcissa and her sister Bellatrix acted towards Sirius Black whenever they ran into one another at Hogsmeade. Serena felt that that specific distaste was more likely due to the family tension Narcissa had shared than with the houses, though. Although, being friends with Remus' friend's hated relative probably didn't put her in good light with the Marauders. She liked to think that Remus was smarter than some house rivalry or family feud, but she had never tested it, tending to stop dead in her tracks and turn tail when she saw him in the hall. After all, if they met she'd have to face the realization that he honestly didn't remember her, or hated her.

"Forget him, Lene," Narcissa always said with a wave of her hand. "It's not as if every boy in our year isn't in love with you. I had to go up a year just to get a little attention." That was an exaggeration. Selene didn't understand why Narcissa insisted on such nonsense, but it always made her blush. "Your being silly," Selene replied, smiling at her friends familiar words as they exited charms class. "Oh please," Narcissa replied. "You are so dense."

"Am not!"

"Lucious darling, tell her how every boy is in love with her in our year," Narcissa insisted to her boyfriend, Lucious Malfoy, as they met him. He had been waiting for them to exit, ready to carry Narcissa's books and walk her to her next class. He was quite the gentleman to Narcissa, always appearing when needed as if he just knew what would please her. Selene felt that he must be very in love with her. She knew Narcissa liked him an awful lot. Lucious looked at Serena with the classic Malfoy smirk, eyes dancing. "Yep. If I had a galleon for every time I heard one of the 6th years, or even 5th or 7th years, say they thought you were the image of perfection, I'd have double the wealth I do now." Selene blushed. "Hush! No one says I'm an image of perfection," she insisted. "I can't imagine who would even phrase something so-"

Selene was stopped in her sentence as someone's speeding shoulder ran into hers and she was knocked to the ground. Completely winded. "Watch it you," Lucious hissed the third year who had stopped to apologize for knocking Selene down. The third year paled, pushing brown hair form his eyes and looking at Lucious. "I-it was only an accident," he muttered. "It's fine, I'm fine," Selene assured the boy in a gasp. "Honest," she gasped at the look of worried doubt on the boy's face. She gave him a smile to further prove her point, though it was lost in the fact that Lucious gave the boy a dark look. The third year let out an "Eep" and rushed off. "Hufflepuffs," Narcissa giggled, rolling her eyes as she and Lucious helped Selene up. They continued walking, Lucious and Narcissa talking amongst themselves as Selene continued to try to recover her breathe. "I think I'm going to catch up with you later lovelies," she finally said, making the couple turn to face her. "I think I'll go to the hospital wing. I can't catch my breath." They gave her a concerned look but she waved it away and turned to head the other way. No sooner had they turned the corner then Selene pushed open the big oak doors and walked outside.

Truth be told, she was having trouble catching her breath but she also didn't want to be around Lucious and Narcissa for too much longer. She always felt as if she had a limited welcome where they were concerned. Not that they weren't both good friends with her, just that sometimes couples liked to be able to sneak off and have a steamy snogfest. One couldn't do that if one's friend was present. Selene giggled to herself and her internal dialogue as she leaned against a tree, closing her eyes as the sun fell on her face. It was so relaxing to be outside in the nice warm air on such a clear September day.

"Hey, wake up. Wake up. Come on." Selene groaned as she sat up rubbing her eyes. "Geez you're a heavy sleeper. I've never met anyone who can sleep through rain." Selene opened her eyes and realized she was very wet. And dirty. Her hands had mud on them. "Oh no," she sighed looking at the once blue sky to see grey clouds and rain pattering down. "I thought you had drowned or fainted for a bit there. Who in the world can sleep through cold water," asked the person who had woken her. Selene turned to see the head girl, a red headed muggleborn by the name of Lily Evans smiling at her. "I didn't sleep well last night, I guess. Besides, I was dreaming about rain, so I guess I thought it was only raining in my dream," Selene answered sheepishly. She let out a sneeze and the head girl tutted. "Well, that doesn't sound good. Follow me, I have some tea that will make that go away before it turns into a really miserable cold." Selene smiled and sneezed again as she stood up, following the girl. Normally she would have been discouraged to do so since she was not only in Slytherin but had heard all about "that goody-goody girlfriend of Potter," but Selene felt that now, in the cold and wet situation, was no time to turn away a kind hand. "I'm Lily Evans by the way. Who are you,"Lily asked as they entered the castle. "I'm Selene Vroegedood," Selene answered. "That's an odd last name, "commented Lily, leading Selene up another flight of stairs. "It's Dutch. My father was from the Netherlands before he came to Hogwarts and met my mom," Selene explained, looking at the pictures they passed. As she passed a picture of three girls dressed in perfect pink dresses, they giggled and pointed. She stuck her tongue out at them as they passed.

"Here we are," Lily smiled, muttering something to a picture of a Fat Lady. The portrait swung forward revealing a hole and they crawled into a warm common room. As it closed behind Selene, she realized something horrifying. She stopped Lily, grabbing her arm and looking around alarmed. "Oh no. I can't be here," Selene hissed. "Why ever not, "Lily asked curiously. "I'm a Slytherin," Selene whispered, looking at the many lion crests that covered the walls. "This is terrible." Lily laughed. "I rather think it's a nice, cozy common room to be honest," Lily replied. "Don't worry, I'm head girl. Nothing bad will happen. Now let me introduce you to some people I know who can keep you company while I go get you some tea from my room." Selene looked around uneasily at the room. It was very nice and warm though. She was acting like such a Hufflepuff, she decided. Being nervous about the Gryffindor common room. If need be, she could jinx all these Gryffindorks to next year. She smiled to herself, spotting a nervous first year in muggle clothes. "Take off your robe if it makes you more comfortable," Lily smiled. "I'll dry it as well." "Alright," Selene smiled gratefully. She removed her robes, under which she had chosen to wear a short-sleeved shirt that had the words Quidditch in big bold emerald letters and a school skirt. She had buttoned her robes this morning to hide the shirt because she had forgotten to put her many dirty school shirts in the dirty clothes for the house elves. Lily led Selene over to the corner of the common room where four boys sat. One was laying in front of the fire, half asleep on his back, one hand up as if he were a sleeping dog, even growling in his sleep a few times. Another was concentrated on homework that he was obviously having trouble with. The other two were in a staring match over a chessboard. Suddenly it struck Selene who these four boys were.

"Potter-er, I mean James," Lily said, tapping the boy whose back was to them in the group of two boys playing chess. James Potter turned and looked up at her, pushing his glasses a bit up his nose. "Hey there Lils, what can I do for my favorite head girl," he smiled. His brow furrowed a bit when he spotted Selene, who was doing her best to hide behind Lily in a discreet fashion. "Nice shirt," he said with a smile. "This is Selene Vroegedood. Will you keep her company while I got get her some Get Well Tea," Lily asked, stepping aside so Selene was fully exposed. "Sure, we'll be nice," James agreed. "Won't we?" "Sure, sure, "Sirius yawned, rolling onto his stomach and blinking. "We're always nice to the youngins'." "I'm not that young," Selene snapped before she could stop herself. Sirius let out a bark like laugh. "Well, I like a girl who can talk to me without twittering, she can stay." He then proceeded to fall back asleep in the warmth of the fire. Lily rolled her eyes. "Be back soon," she whispered and walked off towards a staircase. Selene sat down, still unsure. Peter had gone back to his book, scratching his head in confusion and James and Remus had gone back to their chess match. Or at least she thought they had until she heard her name. She turned away from the fire to see James and Remus looking at her. "Hmm," she asked confused. "I said, would you like to play," James repeated. "I've lost." "Oh, I suppose," Selene smiled, sitting next to the chessboard. James sat next to Peter to help him with his homework as Sirius rolled over once again, peering up at Selene.

"So Miss. Vroegedood, what brings you to this corner of the common room," he asked with a half smile. "Well, it's a bit silly," said Selene with a sheepish grin, looking at Remus from the corner of her eye. He was gazing determinedly at the board. "I fell asleep outside when it was pretty and Lily woke me up. By then I had a bit of a cold and so she invited me here." "That would have been a terrible way to die," James snickered. "Drowning in mud." "I suppose so," Selene smiled, letting out a slight laugh. She moved her knight to take a pawn as Sirius asked "You look familiar, but I've never seen you in the common room. We figured all the Gryffindors had ventured into the common room at some point." "Well," Selene bit her lip, looking back at the board. "I'm not in Gryffindor." There was a moment silence as James, Sirius, and Peter all looked curiously at her. "What house are you in," squeaked Peter. Loud enough for a few surrounding people to look over. James waved their attention away and obediently they all went back to what they were doing. Selene frowned at the board, imagining what was about to happen. Best-case scenario she would simply have to limp back to the dungeon with only a few jinxes thrown at her. Worse case scenario…well…. She looked up from the board to see Remus peering at her, an odd look on his face. "I'm a 6th year Slytherin, " she muttered, moving her knight out of Remus' bishop's way. "WHAT?" This shout of outrage had come from Sirius Black who had jumped up all of a sudden and was towering over Selene. "Get out, now!" Selene blinked surprised. She had expected rage but somehow seeing the charming boy's face darken so quickly had startled her. "I can't until Lily gives me back my robe," Selene muttered, not looking at Sirius, whose face seemed scary for some reason. As if in her, he saw every family member he despised. "Did you hear me, snake," he hissed. "Sirius, calm down mate, she isn't Bella," James whispered to his friend, touching his arm. "I've seen you with Narcissa, though, and Malfoy. I know it. I thought you looked familiar but I figured you were in a class or something," Sirius growled. He was amazingly dog like. It was a bit frightening. Especially since he was now menacingly only a few inches form her face.

"I've known her for ages, Sirius." The three Marauders and Selene turned suddenly to the voice and found themselves facing Remus, who looked calmly at them. He gave Selene a comforting smile. "We used to play together in the neighborhood I lived in for a bit. She isn't a typical Slytherin. I was actually surprised she was in that house at all." "It was almost Ravenclaw," Selene told him, looking at him with a slight smile, a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks. "Figures," he smiled. She tried very hard not to turn away from the smile, which was paired with dancing eyes. And she tried even harder not to sigh. Selene wasn't sure how long their eyes had met but she did know that Sirius Black tossing the chessboard away and sitting right in front of Selene, staring her down, interrupted it." Get out." He repeated, not moving his glaring eyes from her face, his expression set. Selene looked at him unwaveringly for a few moments, scanning his face. His eyes were dark and filled with rage but…was that something else? Maybe Slytherin had made her better at finding people's weaknesses but she saw a hint of sadness behind the rage. Anger that he couldn't look past. He wasn't screaming and telling her to get out. And that seemed to be the sadness. Or she was crazy, both were about equally possible. She stood and nodded solemnly. "I tried to tell Lily I shouldn't," she muttered pushing her hair from her eyes and turning away. "Sorry." She had never felt so rejected in her life. As the portrait hole closed behind her, she just heard Lily's voice ask "Where'd Selene go?"

Selene wasn't sure how it kept happening but somehow today was just not her day for sleeping. There she was having a perfectly wonderful dream and something had woken her. She closed her eyes trying to remember the dream. It was really more like a memory. Her eleven year old self had been sitting in front of the whole great hall, all eyes turned to hers and just as the hat had been lowered over her eyes she'd seen him. Remus Lupin. She thought he had seen her too. Thought for a moment that he, who had been playing with his mash potatoes in a bored fashion, had suddenly looked up in interest at her name. But she was probably just imagining it. Then she was listening to the hats voice, debating over which house it would be. She was clever, but book smart wasn't the word for it according to the hat. And wisdom, well there was that but there was also a determination to succeed. But by then Selene had been only half listening. She was already thinking of a plan to run into Remus in the hall. She'd pretend it was by accident, like she had simply been stuck in a dream world and then Boom! "Oh Remus, what a lovely surprise!" Then the hat had yelled Slytherin and she had seen his disappointed face. As if he was ashamed. He turned away, back to his potatoes.

Selene let out a deep breathe as she opened her eyes again. She'd heard the noise again. It was like the sound of footsteps, but loud ones. It also sounded like someone was whispering. She rolled over and reached for her wand, using it to turn on her light across the room. No one was in the room except for herself and three other girls, all snoring or muttering in their sleep. "Sissa," Selene hissed. There was no reply. "Hey! Sissa. Do you hear something?" The bed that belonged to Narcissa answered "Selene?"

"Yeah, do you hear something?"

"No," the voice behind the curtain groaned.

"It stopped now but there was something I swear," Selene hissed. A slipper came flying towards her from another bed, and she froze it an inch from hitting her face. "Fine," she huffed, getting out of bed completely and leaving the slipper in midair. "But if it's a bogart then I'm going to laugh and laugh when you all see spiders all over the floor, or whatever your deepest fear is." "Thanks Selene. I needed that milk after all," Narcissa's voice muttered in reply.

Selene headed to the common room, turning every so often at a noise. "Dear sanity," she said out-loud to the empty common room. "Please come back soon. We miss you. Sincerely, Selene." She heard chuckles, and turned to see…no one. She really was going crazy. She walked farther into the dungeon, past the tunnel leading to the boy's rooms, and to the edge of the common room. There she knelt down and tapped the first, second, and third stones in a triangle, about five feet high and wide, with her wand. Silently the stones moved backward and created a triangular door. She stepped though and into darkness as the stones closed behind her, and something muttered "Ouch."

She muttered "Lumos" and found herself face to face with a face! She let out a scream at the lit face and stumbled backwards into another figure, that said "damn it! That's my toe snake!" She jumped, looking around. The figures lit theirs wands to reveal Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Sirius Black, all smirking at her. " What is the matter with you," she hissed. "You scared me half to death." "Only half," Sirius snarled. "I'll try harder next time." Selene gave him a cold look as James nudged his shoulder. "What are you doing here," she snapped. "You know you can't kick me out of my own common room." "Look," Sirius snapped back. "We're just escorting Remus down here. He didn't know how to get in." Selene looked at Remus who shrugged with a smile. "Well then I guess," she began to reply to Sirius, but when she turned to address him and Potter, they had both disappeared. "How'd they do that," Selene asked confused. Remus shrugged with a knowing smile in his eyes and held something out for her. "What's this," she asked. "Your robe. Sorry about earlier. You didn't actually have to leave," Remus said with a smile. "Oh, it seemed fairly official that I had to leave," she replied, taking the robes and smiling. "Would you like to come to the secret common room?" "Er, won't people be there?" Remus asked curiously. "No," Selene replied. "I'm the only one who knows how to get there. I never returned the library book with the secret and no one else knows what I'm talking about when I mention it." He shrugged and followed her.

Halfway down the dark hallway, Selene whispered, "Oh careful about the booby traps, Slytherin didn't really trust many people to know about this." No sooner had she sad it then torches along the hall lit up to reveal Remus, his right foot an inch lower then his left. The tile his foot was on had lowered. "Oh shit," Selene said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from the sound of hissing as smoke began to fill the tunnel. "What is that," Remus asked coughing. "Potion, I'm not sure what it does, I've never triggered it before." They continued running until they came to a large metal door. Selene inserted a snake key from her necklace into the keyhole and pushed the door open as the smoke began to creep over their heads. They rushed into the room and closed the door, as the smoke began to recede away. "I think I know what the smoke does," Remus said with a yawn. "What," Selene asked confused, feeling dizzy and a bit groggy. But Remus only replied with a snore as he fell sideways onto the floor. Selene, blinked, the world turning fuzzier and fuzzier with each blink and then the rims of her vision began to go black and she felt herself sinking, sinking, and sinking into nothing.

When Selene woke up the next morning it was on the couch of the secret common room. She blinked confused, looking around at the high dark archways that made up the small room, torches burning that sent ghostly light across the bookshelves that lined one side of the small room. There was one couch, which she now occupied, and two armchairs, both empty. On top of her was her robe, dry now, that she had given Lily. She yawned and looked lazily at her watch. "Oh no!" It was noon and she had officially missed her two classes. "Drat and double drat," she sighed, debating if it was even worth getting up at this point or if she should just go back to sleep. Her stomach gave a loud noise of protest and she stood up, dusting herself off. She'd have to change her clothes, she supposed. As she was dusting, she notices a piece of parchment on the floor that must have been sitting on her and fallen when she'd stood. She picked it up, looking it over curiously.

Selene,

Sorry I had to run, I couldn't get you to wake up. You sleep like a log. I don't know what made you come down to the common room last night but lucky you did because we had no idea which staircase was to the girl's dorm. Thanks for showing me the secret common room, sorry about the booby trap. See you soon.

-Remus

Selene smiled at the messy handwriting, tucking the parchment into her pocket. If the Marauders hadn't been the ones whispering in her room, she wondered who had been. Her stomach gave another roar of hunger and Selene headed towards the exit. As she walked, she pushed the whispering question away in the back of her mind.

Selene decided that since she had skipped class that morning, she would dedicate the rest of the free portions of her day to the library. So now at ten at night, she sat, chewing on an apple and looking over potions books. It was strange, she thought, turning the page of a particularly boring potion, that she felt so awake. Whenever she awoke in the morning she was tired and restless but when night came she couldn't be more awake. It was this that had lead her to believe she was vampire when she was 7, something Remus took months convincing her otherwise of, eventually tricking her into wearing a garlic necklace for a week. That had done the trick, even if it had made her smell for another whole week after, even without the necklace. Still, she was the only person she knew who felt as if she could sleep for hours on end through the day, but had trouble at night. She took another bite of apple and turned the page again, coming to a page full of cryptic writing she had never seen before. She had borrowed this book numerous times from the library, how had she never seen this. "That's odd," she muttered to herself. She flipped a few pages further to find more pages full of the writing. With a shrug, she closed the book so that the title "Potions for the Masters by Salazar Slytherin" shined back at her in eerie red ink.

"What's odd?" Selene jumped and looked up to see Narcissa beaming at her. "You scared me," Serena whispered with a smile. Narcissa shrugged, asking the question again. Obediently, Selene pushed the book over to her friend and opened to the page. "Oh yeah, I noticed that before," Narcissa commented in a bored fashion. "Still, it is odd the pages would be blank like that." Selene looked up quickly, trying to tell if Narcissa was joking or not. "What, "Narcissa asked confused. "Blank? Are you sure," Selene asked. Even with the book upside down, she could see the cryptic writing. "Blank. Your being so strange Selene," Narcissa replied standing. "I've come to retrieve you. Shall we go to the common room?" Selene nodded, tucking the book into her bag and following Narcissa, and trying to shake what had just occurred from her mind.


	2. Dream Discovered

Chapter 2: Dream discovered

Selene looked around her. The tall trees of the forest loomed around her, shadow falling away from her in the moonless sky. It was very odd, she thought. Shadow really shouldn't be there without a moon. Yet light was coming from somewhere. Just as she was about to ponder this, a rustling came from behind her. She turned quickly, but then the rustling moved to the side. Whatever was rustling was moving quickly. Suddenly she saw it, a large wolf, rushed up to her and stood, staring at her. It was larger then most wolves, with an almost human like quality. Selene let out a gasp and took a step back as she realized what it was, a werewolf. The werewolf stepped forward again, not taking its eyes off of her. Her shock ebbed away as they looked at one another, its' almost human eyes seeming to look through her. Its face was lit by whatever made the shadows of the trees dance. Selene looked down and saw her hands. They were glowing, pale and white like the moon. She looked back at the werewolf, but it had disappeared and in its place sat a tired and scratched Remus Lupin. He stood, dusting himself off, and looked back at her. A fear filled his eyes, but it was accompanied by another emotion. An almost animalistic one. He stepped forward and….

"Selene!" Selene sat up quickly and banged her head against something. "Ouch," she muttered, looking up and rubbing her head. The thing she had collided with was none other then Remus Lupin's head. She had fallen asleep in the library, looking at the cryptic writing for the third day. The half moon shown through the library window. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you," Remus smiled, rubbing his own head. "The library is trying to close soon. The librarian wants dinner and all that" Selene smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about your head, I don't know why I am always so tired during the day." Remus shrugged. "It happens." "Lupin, what are you doing here talking to our Selene," asked a cold drawl. Remus turned and Selene peered around him to see Lucious Malfoy, accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle, sneering at Remus. "I was only waking her up," Remus said with a calm shrug, looking over at Selene with a smile, but his eyes seemed somehow darker, more intense. "Well, lets just make sure we keep our unclean hands to ourselves from now on, shall we," Lucious drawled with a smirk, pushing Remus away and helping Selene up from the chair. "After all, we can't have a Slytherin being infected by some Gryffindor slime." Selene blinked confused. She had been present when Slytherin and Gryffindor had had such face offs, but somehow the tension in the room seemed to be increasing by the moment. She turned quickly to look at Remus, whose eyes had narrowed. "Did you just…growl," Lucious asked Remus. Remus' eyes widened and he looked at Selene quickly. "Not that I know of, Malfoy, " he said calmly, though his hazel eyes were darker then ever, a burning hatred behind them. It was fascinatingly terrifying to see such a change on the boy. "Well, lets keep our inner animal to ourselves," Lucious snapped, leading Selene away, who waved behind her to Remus. Remus gave a weak smile back, sitting down and putting his forehead in his hand. He looked paler then when they had first begun talking. How odd, Selene thought before turning her attention back to the conversation before her.

Lucious was talking to Crabbe and Goyle about some discovery the Dark Lord had made. It had been hinted to in The Prophet, that the Order of the Phoenix and the Dark lord both knew that soon the new moon would come. "What does that mean," Selene asked confused. "Doesn't the new moon come every month?" Lucious looked at Crabbe and Goyle for a moment before whispering "I don't know all the details, but from what I can tell, its not just a monthly thing, it's something much bigger. Something that only happens every thousand years or so." Selene tilted her head confused. "Why is it so great anyway," she asked. "Well, as you know, the moon controls a lot of things. Water, the night light, and, of course lots of animals. Can you imagine being able to access that sort of power before it returns to the sky," Lucious asked. They had all stopped in the hall to discuss it. "I don't understand, do you mean this new moon is, walking around," Selene asked confused. Lucious nodded. "Supposedly it's a person, but no one knows who." "There is supposedly a long hidden history on it, "Goyle grunted. "Food now, "Crabbe asked. Lucious nodded. "I'll catch up, I have to go to my room quickly," Selene smiled. Lucious nodded and the boys headed off to the Great Hall. Selene waited for them to leave before leaning against the wall. Imagine, the new moon. She wondered what that meant. Then she thought about Remus and his dark, angry eyes. She shuttered. It was not something she liked to see, such a gentle boy suddenly transforming into something resembling an animal. She shook her head and pushed herself off the wall, walking towards the dungeon.

As she rushed away from the dungeon towards dinner, she skidded to turn a corner, nearly hitting a suit of armor. "Sorry," she grinned. She could see Narcissa ahead and wanted to scare her. However as she rounded the next corner in pursuit of her friend, she found herself facing an empty corridor. Narcissa was a master at silent escapes. "Drat and double drat," Selene muttered, pouting for a moment. The echo of footsteps she was producing must have given her away. She started up the stairs to the main entrance. It was an echo filled room, so Selene couldn't understand how Narcissa could have escaped so silently. As she approached the top of the stairs, she could hear the echo of voices passing above. "So he said she was fat! To her face," one first year twittered. "Chaser is way harder to play then beater," snapped a passing boy to his friend who gave a scathing reply. "But he flirted with me first," whined a passing 5th year. "I don't know what it is, Padfoot. This is the third time its happened, but it's the worst one yet." Selene stopped, recognizing the quiet voice. She pressed herself against the wall, just below the first step in order to hear. It sounded as if the speaker, Remus, and whoever Padfoot was were hiding behind the suit of armor by the entrance to the stair to have their secret discussion. "So, when did it happen before," asked a familiar voice. It sounded a bit like a boy, probably around Remus' age. Selene guessed it was either Sirius or James. "The first time she came. It's why I didn't talk much. It's like inside I can suddenly feel the pull of my less attractive half. And then the next time, I could smell better. I could smell everything. I could close my eyes and know where she was." Remus voice was whispering in a rushed fashion, as if they had limited time to be alone. "Maybe it's just because the full moon is coming," the other speaker suggested, so quietly that Selene had to move to the first step to hear. There was a pause. "Maybe. I bet that's it. But it's not even half full and…." Remus trailed off. "You should have seen me. I even made a noise. My eyes were as dark as beetles in my refection from the window. Even now, I feel like I can smell her near by. Like she is right here." "I mean, your eyes are kind of dark right now, but do you think she… I mean, what could this possibly mean?" The second speaker asked. "All I know is that she is like-" "Selene, I have been looking for you!" the echo from Narcissa's voice rang up the stairwell so loudly that Remus' fainter echo was lost. "Hey there, I was looking for you, I thought you went up here, so I was headed up," Selene beamed, straining her ear to catch any conversation that was continuing. It was silent. As Narcissa and Selene exited the staircase, she saw Sirius and Remus walking into the Great Hall, exchanging a knowing look, as if her appearance proved some point they had made amongst themselves.

Selene could not sleep. She sighed and rolled over for what felt like the thousandth time. In defeat, she looked at her watch. Midnight. This was getting absurd. It was the fifth time this week she hadn't been able to sleep. She felt cramped and stuck in her bed. She needed to be in a more open area. She couldn't breathe in this dank dark area right now. Slipping on her robes, she moved silently from the room and out of the castle. Outside, the air was clean and crisp it pinched her cheeks. She let out a sigh of relief to be out of the cramped and depressing dungeon. A cloud of breath escaped her mouth. She watched it rise in a curl before disappearing, revealing a full moon. She blinked. Maybe this wasn't the best time to be out. She had heard stories of vampires and werewolves in the haunted forest. She let out another breathe and the curling air calmed her nerves. She moved towards the tree by the lake, leaning against it and watching the water. She hadn't been sitting for more then a few minutes before she heard the shuffling of feet. She looked up, peering around the tree to see figures moving rapidly towards the forest, their hoods pulled up and over their heads. Selene's curiosity peaked as one paused before entering the forest, turning his head. She could see the pale skin of Lucious Malfoy looking around before disappearing in the trees. Without thinking, she stood and dusted herself off. Moving quietly and swiftly, she rushed over to the place the figures had entered and went into the forest. She hadn't taken two steps before noticing lights flickering dimly from the ground, as if creating a pathway. They illuminated footprints in the wet soil. Selene followed it for a bit, stopping every so often to hear the rustling of the woods. She would look up cautiously, hoping it was simply a squirrel. Maybe an owl. Once it was a rat, which squeaked before rushing off the way it came. After fifteen minutes of following the lights, she noticed them diming, then they died completely. She paused, looking around. A few steps more and she was in a clearing, but no one else was there. Just the sound of rustling woods, and the moon that illuminated the clearing. All it really illuminated though was the fact that Selene was terribly and undeniably lost.

Selene sat on a stump, looking around. There weren't even footprints here. For all she knew those lights could have been designed to lead people astray who followed the figures in. Of course, some sort of dark magic could be expected from those who where with Lucious Malfoy at midnight in the forbidden forest. All in all, it had been stupid of her to come. She let out another sigh that curled in front of her and then, there was a series of rustlings in the forest just in front of her, like a fast moving thing was coming towards her. She stood, feeling in her pocket for her wand. "Shit," she muttered. She had been in such a hurried moment; she had left it, sitting by her bed. That had not been her wisest moment. The stupidity of such an action became even clearer as the rustling began just outside her line of vision. Whatever was coming near her was big. She heard a growl from the bushes and began to move backwards, trying her hardest to be as quiet and quick as possible. Then out from the bushes came a giant wolf, sniffing the ground and growling with excitement. It looked up as Selene froze in fright. Then, as she realized what a real life werewolf looked like, it scanned the clearing. As she turned and began to run, jumping of trunks and twigs, she could hear its blood chilling howl fill the night sky. She thought she heard a bark of a dog and a growling but she was rushing farther and farther away, though it may have been deeper and deeper into the forest. Soon, she could hear the panting of the wolf behind her, snapping those twigs and trunks she had jumped over. Next to her, she could hear her movement as well. In fright, she turned to see a male deer galloping next to her. Their eyes met and it nodded its head as if to follow it. She blinked confused and suddenly found herself face to face with a giant rock, smashed against another rock to create a corner and nowhere to go but over the rock or towards the deer.

She stopped, panting, holding herself up with the rock. She couldn't run anymore, she didn't think. At least, not until she heard the howl so close to her, She rushed towards to deer, which galloped ahead, hopefully leading her away to safety. But as Selene ran, and panted, her foot hooked around a twig and she fell, tumbling to the ground, foot burning with pain. She sat for a moment, stunned and adrenaline run out. From the forest came the werewolf. It slowed its pace, as Selene's mind demanded that her body move. But her body had decided to simply concentrate on reminding her mind how badly her foot burned, rather then getting up to run. Selene panted, and scooted back on the ground, but the werewolf came and stood above her. It peered down at her; it's dark beetle eyes dancing with excitement from the hunt. It howled with triumph and it's tongue lulled out, dropping slobber on Selene's cheek. Then, it paused. It sniffed Selene's face and his head moved back and forth as if trying to rid itself of something on top of it. Then it looked at her again, this time, a more somber look in its brown eyes. Selene paused; her heart beat slowing to its normal speed, fascinated by the change. She slowly sat up, and put her hand up in defense at the growl from the werewolf. But as she put her hand up, the werewolf gave a whimper, as if she had hit it. It looked at her with stunning hazel eyes and moved backward, tail between its legs and eyes never leaving hers. Then it was gone. And all she could hear was the sound of it running the other way, and a howl in the distance. Selene stood and wiped the slobber from her cheek, looking up to see the deer watching her, eyes unmoving from her face. It nodded its head to the side and Selene stood to follow. She glanced back at the place that the werewolf had disappeared and frowned. It was all very strange. This occurrence. And those eyes and the way they had changed. It had reminded her of something or someone, but who? The deer led her to the edge of the forest, the nodded its head to the looming castle. "Thank you," Selene muttered, looking at the deer through her eyelashes, ashamed by the trouble she'd caused. "Sorry about that." She wondered if the deer could even understand her, but it nodded its head once before galloping off into the woods. Selene looked at her watch it was 1:30. She was exhausted. At least she'd be able to sleep. As she walked toward the castle, she looked at the moon. It seemed somehow dimmer then when she had first come out of the castle. But perhaps that was just the observations of an exhausted teen that had nearly died.

Hours later, Selene was deep in a dream in which her younger self sat in the sand box with a younger Remus Lupin. Young Selene turned to the sandy haired boy and asked, "Why is your hair so sandy?" "It's made of sand," he replied. "Why are your eyes so hazel," she asked. "My momma gave them to me," Remus replied with a smile, making a turret for their castle. "Why do you have that scar?" Little Selene pointed to a mark on his arm, like a moon shaped bite mark. Little Remus became embarrassed, pushing his sleeve down. "I got bit." "By what," Selene asked. "A big doggy. How many turrets?" Little Remus asked, making a second one. "Four! All Princesses and Princes have four turrets," Little Selene replied. Then after a pause she asked, "Does it still hurt?" There was another pause as Remus made the third turret. "Only once a month," he muttered. "You should make a moat."

Selene smiled, "With alligators?" Remus nodded. "My mommy hurts once a month too," Selene added, giving the ashamed boy a sideways look. He looked up at her and smiled. "I like your mommy, she makes good cookies." It was a pleasant dream, so there was no reason for Selene to wake up suddenly, sitting up straight and gasping for air. All she could do was sit for a few moments, trying to remember her dream before it dawned on her. What Remus' sand castle confession had really meant. He was a werewolf.


	3. Dazed and Confused

Chapter 3: Dazed and Confused

If Selene had wanted to confront Remus and confirm her suspicion she wouldn't have been able to do it in the next week. She was far to busy. With classes and studying. Lucious had also promised to let her try out for the quidditch team. It was later then usually, but one of the chasers had been badly injured by a bludger and his mother had forbidden him to play. And his mother was not one to be disobeyed. The term Medusa was an understatement in her case.

In fact, Selene had the sneaking suspicion that Remus Lupin was avoiding her. She assumed this because of the way that whenever she saw him in the hall he would pale and turn. Sometimes Narcissa would tell her because he was so good at spotting her. Once she turned the corner to see his rushed retreating back. As if he could tell when she was close. It was terribly depressing. But she tried her best to push it from her mind. At least she knew he remembered her. Even if he was avoiding her now. Selene shook her head as she dodged a bludger. "Pay attention," Lucious shouted. He shook his head and handed the bat back to Goyle. They were suppose to be practicing new maneuvers for their game tomorrow against Hufflepuff. Selene didn't understand why, Hufflepuff was terrible. They didn't need new maneuvers. She tossed the quaffle as hard as she could to the other chaser, a brooding boy with bushy eyebrows. He reached out to catch it, but the quaffle jetted to the right and then out of the stadium. They heard a loud splash as it fell in the lake. Lucious hit his head with his hand. Below them, Selene saw Sirius Black laughing with Peter Pettigrew, his wand still out from the trick. Selene rolled her eyes flying to their level. "Was that necessary," she snapped at the now serious boys. Peter looked uneasily at Sirius, who stood, eyes narrowing. "Better go retrieve it, snake." "You are so good at making people dislike you," Selene snapped, annoyed at the boys unnecessary anger. She waved to Lucious that she'd get it and flew to the edge of the lake, dismounting.

Of course, the quaffle sat in the middle of the lake. Much to far for her to reach it. She sighed, pacing back and forth for a moment before noticing a wind was moving the water a bit. "Come here," she coaxed, moving her hand from the water to herself, trying to convince the quaffle to come with the current from the wind. "Come to Selene. Don't make me get out my wand." To be honest, her wand was lost in the many pockets her outfit had at the moment. They hadn't given her an official uniform yet so she was playing in pants that had more pockets then pant. "Please little quaffle," she pleaded. It began to move towards her, the waves lifting a bit higher then before. She stopped motioning, looking around. The wind hadn't seemed to increase at all. She looked back at the red ball. It sat defiantly, closer then before, but still resisting the now normal wind created current. Selene frowned trying to coax it again, moving one of her hands from pointing to the quaffle to pointing to herself as before. Half-heartedly, she began using her other hand to search for her wand. "Come on quaffle darling," she sighed. After a few minutes she let out a sound of excitement, pulling out her wand from a side pocket. She looked up to see the lake's motion begin to die down, though her shoes had gotten a bit wet from the sudden current. "How odd," she muttered closing her eyes to imagine the red ball. "Accio quaffle," she said opening her eyes. To her surprise, it leapt up from the edge of the lake by her feet. "Oh," she said, looking around to see if anyone had seen the strangeness that had occurred. She looked out at the lake again, it's ripples caused by the wind. She motioned her hands once again, noticing a taller wave appear. She stopped, so did the wave. She moved her hand again, and a new wave appeared. She stopped, and so did it. "I'm going crazy," she muttered, hopping onto her broom and flying off to the quidditch field again.

The next day had carried on like any other. Selene had gone to classes and was soon going to dinner. "This is so annoying, why do I have to talk to her? Why can't Remus do it?" Selene looked up from her book of cryptic writing. She was leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairwell that led to the entrance hall. Narcissa was suppose to meet her here any second. Selene couldn't understand why she couldn't understand the cryptic writing that had suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere. And she also couldn't understand why only she seemed to be able to see it. Turning back to her book, she looked at the odd shapes once again, they seemed to glow with their silver writing. "Why are you looking at a blank book and why are you waiting at the bottom of these stairs?" Selene looked up to see Sirius Black glaring at her. "Trying to overhear more conversations," he asked accusingly. "Nope, waiting for someone," Selene replied, turning the page. "Well they'll have to wait, come with me." Sirius grabbed her arm and began to pull her up the stairs. "Ouch, stop it," Selene demanded, pulling her arm away half way up the stairs and tucking her book in her bag. "Why should I follow you? You don't even like me. That's like a fly following a spider," she snapped. Sirius rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this. Will you just come with me, I'm suppose to talk to you," he snapped, reaching out and pulling her up a few more steps. "No. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to talk to any of you," Selene told him, pulling her arm away once again. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand, pointing it at him. "Don't try to pull me somewhere. I don't want any of you to talk to me. You don't want to anyways. You hate me, for Merlin knows what reason." Sirius let out a cold bark like laugh. "This is more important then how I feel about you," he snapped, giving her a cold look. "Besides, why do you care if I like you or not." "I don't," Selene snapped, taking a step back. "But I do care that your one of Remus' friends and now Remus is avoiding me. So, you and all you other Gryffindors can just leave me alone. If you don't like me then I don't like you." Sirius raised an eyebrow, a half smile on his face. "Oh really," he asked seemingly unconvinced. "Really. Now shoo, I'm waiting for someone who doesn't loudly complain about having to talk to me at the top of an echo-y stairwell," Selene snapped back, tucking her wand away and turning from the surprised Sirius. He looked as if no one of the female persuasion had ever told him no in his life. "Ready to go," Narcissa asked as Selene made it to the bottom of the stairwell. Selene looked behind her, but Sirius had disappeared. "Yeah, let's eat," Selene, replied with a smile, feeling proud of her courage against the 7th year.

But the feeling of triumph lasted only an hour. As Selene exited the Great Hall, trailing behind Lucious and Narcissa who she was allowing to have a moment, she felt herself pulled to the side, behind a suit of armor. "What-" she began before she felt a hand over her mouth. "This is important. Can't talk here," She heard a now familiar voice of Sirius Black tell her. She felt the wall next to her shift and he pulled her into the empty area. "What is your problem," she asked in annoyance as the wall closed behind them. She turned, banging on it. "There is only one way out, and that's not it, might as well follow," he told her, walking ahead. "Are you going to explain where we are going," she asked, pushing raven hair from her face in annoyance. He shrugged, not looking back. "What is your problem, Black? Do you hate me or what," She demanded, annoyed with everything about the boy. "You repeat yourself too much," He replied. She let out a noise of annoyance. "You do," he snapped. "Whenever I see you it's why do you hate me." He mimicked her in a high-pitched voice. "You're an arse, you know that," Selene muttered. Sirius paused and turned to look at her in the face. "Yeah? Well you're a Slytherin. Who hangs around known death eaters in training like Lucious Malfoy. So sorry if I don't greet you with wide open arms." "Lucious is not a death eater in training," Selene scoffed. "And you would think something like that. You act like your so above prejudice and your so much better then the rest of your family, but your just as bad. You simply-" She was suddenly pressed against the wall with a wand at her forehead, Sirius inches away from her face. "Don't ever compare me to my family. You don't know anything about them or me," he hissed. She was silent for a moment, looking at him. He released her and moved away, but Selene could feel the pressure of his hand on her arm for moments later. "Besides, if he's not a death eater in training, why do you think he was going to that secret death eater in training meeting," Sirius muttered. "When was that," Selene asked, wondering how long this passage was. "That night with the full moon and the werewolf," Sirius replied. "We were sure you were a death eater too, but Remus says you can't be." Selene looked up suddenly. Sirius looked over his shoulder, scanning her up and down. "I'm not so sure though," he added, turning away and continuing down the passage. They walked silently for a few moments before Selene muttered, more to herself then anyone else, "I still don't know why you hate me so much though."

Sirius stopped and she ran into him, falling backwards. He turned with a sigh and helped her up. His face danced with shadows from the torches that illuminated the passage. "Look, I don't hate you, alright?" Selene paused, pulling her hand away from his, that he had used to help her up, slowly, looking at him suspiciously. "That's not what you've said up to now." "Look," he sighed pushing his messy hair from his face, letting it fall back again. "You're a Slytherin. I just, have trust issues with Slytherin, alright?" "I'm not that kind of Slytherin," Selene muttered, looking way from his dark eyes. They were still very close. "Don't move, there is a spider," Sirius muttered, using his wand to sweep something off of Selene's shoulder. She didn't move. "There you go," he muttered, he was terribly close to her ear. "See, is that how someone who hates you would act?" "Thank you," she said, blinking up at him. Then suddenly she felt pressure on her lips and a hand in her hair. Then it was gone, almost as quickly as it had come, leaving only a slight electric tingle where it once was. Selene looked at Sirius confused. "Can't we just stick with I have problems with Slytherins," Sirius asked hopefully, not looking her in the eyes and removing his hand from her hair. Selene blinked confused. "I guess," she replied, dazed. Very, very dazed. "Anyway, the reason I brought you is because Dumbledore wants to talk to you. He's in here," Sirius said in a rushed voice, motioning to the door they had reached. He paused, hand on the doorknob, turning to look at her again. She looked around, unsure of what he was looking at. "What," she asked, unsure if he was about to kiss her again. "You look indecently pale. Like your so pale your glowing a bit," he replied, shaking his head. She looked at her hands. They looked like they always did. "It must be the torches," she muttered smiling at him. His eyes danced. "Must be," he replied opening the door to reveal a small empty room where Dumbledore, the headmaster sat. "By the way," he muttered in her ear. "Sorry if that made you feel awkward. I just needed to get it out since the whole common room thing." She turned to asked him to elaborate, but he had disappeared and the bookshelf moved back into place where he would have stood.

Selene turned to Dumbledore, who peered at her over his half moon glasses with a smile and dancing eyes. She immediately felt at ease in a way she never thought an authority figure would make her feel. She always thought she'd feel like she was going to pee herself for being in trouble. "Sit down ." Selene obeyed and sat. "You are no doubt wondering why I have requested you here, rather then my office," Dumbledore said looking over his spectacles. Selene nodded. "Well, you see, when Hogwarts was built, it was in a time f misunderstandings. It is not just the muggle world that holds prejudice within itself. After all, Giants, goblins, and centaurs are not given equal right in our world. " Selene looked confused at the headmaster. She had no idea what this side comment had to do with anything. "Tea," he offered, holding out a cup that had appeared from nowhere. She nodded taking it. "You'll need a scone of course," Dumbledore added, waving his wand so a scone appeared in her lap. "I do hope you like blueberry." She nodded. "Oh for goodness sakes Dumbledore, hurry up," hissed a voice behind Dumbledore. "Who is that," Selene asked, nearly dropping her scone in surprise. Dumbledore smiled. "Don't be afraid. These are Lunar Shadows. As I was saying, one such prejudice built was made in the Headmasters office, which does not allow certain forms of shadows into it. However, much of the rest of Hogwarts is too open to being overheard, as you know form your stairwell experience," Dumbledore gave Selene a wink of understanding as she sipped her tea embarrassed. "So we arranged for you to be here." "What do you mean, lunar shadows," Selene asked, biting her scone curiously. "I can answer that," replied a female voice form behind Dumbledore. "Lunar shadows are simply impressions of those who have left ages ago." "Like ghosts," Selene asked. "Well," replied the voice, seeming to ponder the analogy. "A ghost is an imprint of the spirit. Lunar shadows are more like the shadow of the mind. Our soul couldn't be imprinted because-"

"Hush Coyolxauhqui" snapped a deeper voice. "If you tell her everything her shadow will never be strong." "My shadow?" Selene asked confused. "We can't tell you too much," said the deep voice. "But we can tell you that we have been trying to contact you for months now." "You were the ones I heard whispering in my dorm," Selene said suddenly. "Yes," replied the voice that belonged to Coyolxauhqui. "That was thanks to Heng-O and Ix Chel. Terribly loud those two." "That's not the point," snapped the deep voice again. "The point is, we need to tell what we can. It is of the upmost importance that you find out on your own. That book you have in your bag, with the writing, it is the most important resource you can have." "This one," Selene said, pulling the book by Salazar Slytherin from her bag. "Yes, yes!" Said a new voice excitedly. "That's the one." "But I can't even read it," she said flipping to the cryptic pages. "Not now. Try, oh how do we do this Khons?" There was silence for a moment and then a deep voice with an accent spoke. "Here is the riddle: O becomes C and C becomes O, what is it? When you figure that out, read it under the O." There was the twittering of agreement and then silence. "Are you insane," Selene asked confused. "I don't know what that means at all." "Think about it," Snapped a female voice. "Once you do, everything will start to make sense and we will visit again." "Can't I have any more hints," asked Selene. But there was no sound in reply. She sighed and leaned back, looking at the cryptic writing. She reached into her bag and pulled out a quill and quickly wrote down the riddle, followed by the names Coyolxauhqui, Heng-O, Khons, and Ix Chel. She sighed and stood, tucking it all away in her bag, and trying to decide how she could get out of the room. "Your true soul soars when you sleep," muttered a voice in Selene's ear as she headed towards a bookcase that had begun to open. "What does that mean, who is that," Selene asked, turning. "A hint to help. Mawu," replied the voice simply. "Why do you all speak in riddles," Selene demanded annoyed. There was silence and she put the rest of the scone in her mouth, walking into the passageway.

No sooner had she entered then she saw wand light and two figures ahead. She approached slowly and carefully. "Done," asked James Potter, standing up from his leaning position and beaming at her. He pushed up his glasses as Sirius also straightened himself up. "I suppose so," she replied, still confused. The two teens exchanged a look and smiled. "Dumbledore can be very ambiguous at times," Sirius told her reassuringly. She nodded. "Care to get a night time snack with us," asked James. "Lily will be joining. " Selene's stomach growled in agreement and Sirius and James laughed, leading her to a picture of a fruit bowl. They tickled a pear and it giggled, revealing a doorknob. As they ate, Selene turned to James and Sirius. "I have a riddle for you." Their faces lit up with delight as they sipped butterbeer. "Tell us," Sirius beamed. Selene pushed away her feeling of how strange it was for Sirius to be suddenly nice to her. "O becomes C and C becomes O, what is it? " There was a pause as they thought, and thought and thought. Soon Lily arrived and the topic changed, but not before Sirius and James assured Selene they'd figure it out. But by the end of their snack, they still hadn't figured it out and Selene walked back to the Slytherin common room lost in thought and confusion.


	4. The Riddled Werewolf

Chapter 4: The Riddled Werewolf

Selene sat in the tree by the lake, foot dangling from the branch she sat on. She was partially eavesdropping on those who stopped in this fine Saturday morning sun to talk and skip stones and half thinking. Her branch was just high enough that leaves hid even her dangling foot. In her hand was a piece of parchment with hurried writing on it that read "O becomes C and C becomes O, what is it? " followed by the names Mawu, Khons, Heng-O, Ix Chel, and Coyolxauhqui. Then written in less hurried writing was the sentence, "Your true soul soars when you sleep-Mawu." It was terribly hard to concentrate on such mysteries with the tasks of day-to-day life on ones mind. In fact, it was hard to think of anything in the pretty November air. It was one of the last pretty days before snow. It was already getting cold, but the sun felt so nice coming through the branches. Selene was having a harder time fighting the urge to take a nap more then anything else. "Then when it is an O you can read it," Selene muttered to herself. She sighed.

Sitting in the tree, she began to lazily move her hand from the water to herself. Back and forth just as she had done when the Quaffle had landed in the water. She had done this for the past month when thinking to herself. And just as in the past month, the still lake began to ripple, than waves formed. Once she had even been so concentrated that she had been able to get a line of water to raise form the lake. Now she watched the water through the leaves with all her concentration. She motioned the water up and down, higher and higher, to the beat of her heart. It rose and fell and a line of it stood higher then the rest, following her hands motion in the air, detached from the rest of the lake. "What are you doing up there," asked a voice. Selene dropped her hand and held up her wand, looking back to see that the water had returned to the lake, and the lake sat still once more. She looked down to see Severus Snape, a 7th year Slytherin who was friends with Lucious Malfoy, looking up at her. "Nothing," Selene answered, jumping down. "Was that you doing that with the water," Severus asked, looking at her suspiciously. Selene looked at him and smiled. "I know it was, I saw you," Severus replied to his own question. "I was practicing charms. It's a water charm I read about," Selene explained with a smile, pushing hair behind her ear. Severus Snape raised his eyebrow. "I don't recall learning any charm like that, ever," he said coldly. "Oh, I'm very advanced. I've been having private tutoring with Flitwick and Lily Evans," Selene said with a smile. "Just ask Evans." Severus face contorted a bit, his eyes darkening. "I will not," he snapped, stomping off. Selene shrugged, not sure what had made him so angry. Something about Lily Evans, she supposed. Then again, many Slytherins didn't like her, but not many had that much reaction to her very name. She climbed the tree again to find her bag. It was somewhere in these branches.

No sooner had she reached the higher branches then she heard the familiar voices of Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and James Potter. She had not seen them for a while now. Remus had still continued to avoid her though he now refrained from running off; instead he simply refused to look her in the eye. Half the time, Selene could swear she had just missed him looking at her, she always got that feeling that someone was looking at her from that direction. Then when she turned, that direction was where Remus stood, determinedly not looking at her. After the kitchen and Dumbledore time, Selene had run into James and Sirius a few times, especially on the grounds, but they simply smiled and waved, apparently busy with other things. Perhaps helping Dumbledore confused her even more. Sirius did a good job at it, she thought, remembering the brief kiss. Odd. She shook her head, turning back to the conversation below her. James was asking if either of the boys knew where Peter had gotten to recently. "Usually we play chess at some point on Saturday and I haven't seen him all day," James said. "You alright, Moony?" James and Sirius were looking at Remus, who was acting like he smelled something and was trying to identify it. "Maybe he has a girlfriend," Sirius shrugged. "A secret girlfriend." "Maybe he's keeping it secret because she's snogged you," James suggested. "Probably," Sirius conceded. They all laughed. "Moony, really," Sirius said, slapping Remus on the back. "What's up?" Remus paused in his sniffing the air to smile sheepishly, putting his arm up to scratch his head. Selene leaned forward, bag on her shoulder. She could see Remus' scar from the branch. It was in a large circle, like a moon. She thought for a moment, leaning closer to see how it was lighter by a shade then the rest of his fairly tan skin. It really was like a big round moon. Selene sat up straighter. The moon! The moon was a C and then an O. Could it be the moon? On a full moon she was suppose to read the cryptic writing? "I guess I'm just going crazy. I could have sworn I smelled-" Remus began. He didn't get to finish however because in her excitement, Selene had shifted too quickly and the branch cracked. Remus looked up quickly at the sound that neither Sirius nor James noticed. Selene managed to say "Shiite," before the branch broke completely and she managed to fall out of the tree. Luckily, Remus with amazing strength, caught her.

"What are you doing in a tree," James asked curiously. "I was thinking until you all came along," Selene answered embarrassed. Remus was still holding her with surprising ease. His eyes were a deep brown. "Thanks for catching me," she said to him, giving him a smile. Remus blinked as if in surprise, and smiled back, his eyes their usual hazel. "I'm surprised you were able to catch her. Upper body strength isn't usually your strong point," Sirius laughed, patting Remus on the back. Remus smiled, setting Selene down. "Remus, I have a riddle for you. I think I know the answer, but I want to check with you," she said hurriedly. Remus seemed confused then smiled, "Alright what is it?" "O becomes C and C becomes O, what is it?" Remus looked at her for a moment, eyes searching her face as if confused and suspicious that it was more then a riddle. "We weren't able to figure it out," James said sheepishly to Remus. But Remus had not moved his eyes from Selene's as he said "The moon. It goes from full moon to crescent, then back to full." There was a moment of silence as James and Sirius exchanged a look. "That's what I thought," Selene answered with a smile. "Thanks for catching me," she said, turning and running as fast as she could back to the castle. She would have to wait for next Saturday to be able to read the cryptic writing, but she could look up the names on the parchment.

In the library, Selene sat pouring over books and books. Finally she found one titles "Muggle Myths and Religious Folklore." In it, she found each name she had noted. In the Aztec culture, was Coyolxauhqui, who was the moon goddess, and sister to the sun god. In the Chinese culture was Heng-o, who was called the moon goddess, symbol of the cold and dark principle yin. In myth, she tried to steal the draught of immortality from her husband, but was only able to drink half. In the Mayan culture was Ix Chel, the rainbow, earth, and moon goddess. The Egyptians mentioned Khons, a Moon God who was youthful. Finally, in a West African culture, Mawu was mentioned as the moon goddess who was a mother. Selene closed the book, scribbling all of this down furiously. They all had to do with the moon. Every last one had powers and were like witches or wizards, but the muggles around them thought they were Gods. Selene felt uneasy. Even her book could only be read in the full moon, which she was more sure then ever was the answer to the riddle. All these people, or gods, or whatever they were now existed as Lunar shadows. Selene suddenly felt as if someone was watching her and looked over her shoulder. Nothing was there, except a strange, very dim pale light on the walls. She thought she heard a squeak, but that was probably in her imagination. Filches cat took care of all rats and mice in Hogwarts castle. She shivered and closed the book, stuffing the paper in to her pocket and leaving the library. She had suddenly no excited curiosity.

"Selene, are you alright," Narcissa asked concerned. "You've been very quiet and broody these last few days." Selene forced a smile. "I'm fine, honest. I just need to take a walk is all." Narcissa raised an eyebrow. "You really need to stop looking at that book with its blank pages, just let it go," she said closing the book that was open in front of Selene. "Your right," Selene agreed, putting the book into her bag. "I'll be fine after a walk I think," Selene smiled. Narcissa frowned and nodded. Selene stood and stretched, leaving her lunch plate and moving out of the Great Hall. She moved out of the castle and into the cool air, letting out a breath. She saw something move form the corner of her eye and turned to see Remus Lupin turn his head away from her, a slight blush on his cheeks. This was getting ridiculous. She suddenly felt a surge of annoyance towards the boy. She took a few steps towards him quickly. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, then without a word, began to walk into the forest. She picked up her pace to try and catch up, but he was amazingly fast and he entered the forest before her. Having not learned her lesson from last time, and comforted by the fact that it was the afternoon, Selene followed after. She saw him look back every so often, to see if she was following. Or was it to make sure she was? More and more she thought it was the second. Thinking this, she lost sight of Remus behind a low-lying tree.

Selene pushed a branch aside, stepping forward, over a large fallen trunk. Possibly the one that had tripped her last time she entered the forest. She could see Remus, sitting on a stump in the clearing that she had been led to by the dimming and then put out lights. She paused, wondering if she should have come. It was a bit stalker like to have followed the boy, a bit conceited to think he had silently asked her to. In hesitation, she stood debating on her next move just out of sight. "I know your there Selene, you can come over." Selene took a step forward, into the clearing. "How'd you know I was there," she asked curiously, coming to stand in front of him. He smirked, letting out a sigh. "I can smell you." Selene blinked. "Oh, well, I'm sorry?" Remus let out a laugh. "No, no. Not in a you smell terrible way," Remus replied. Selene shook her head, "I don't understand." Remus sighed. "Look, it's like this." He stood and paced forward a bit, paused, and motioned for her to sit. "Everything is heightened when you're around. I mean, when I'm me," he paused, running his hand through his hair in an effort to align his thoughts. "You mean the whole werewolf thing," Selene asked. Remus nodded, shaking the surprised look from his face. "Right, when I'm not in that form, when the full moon is ages away, being around you heightens everything. I mean my smell, my strength, and my anger, my everything. I get protective over territory, over…you… but not in a bad way." He sighed pacing back again.

"And when I'm around you and I am in that state, you know, I feel more… human. I mean that night," he paused again seeming to search for words. "The night we ran into each other in the forest and you were a werewolf," Selene asked. Remus nodded, again shaking his head with a smile. "You catch on quickly, anyway, that night I felt in control. More human. I don't know what it is. But I think," he paused again, leaning against a tree. "I think I have felt it before, way back when we were younger. But I didn't know what it was. It was much weaker. Now though, it's more and more obvious. Don't you think," he asked. Selene wasn't really sure what to reply. "What are you trying to say," she asked standing and walking over to look at him. "I don't know, actually," he replied, a blush on his cheeks. "No wait, I do know. But I don't know how to say it. Or, I think I'm rambling. Sorry." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair again. It was thoroughly disheveled now. "You know I've been trying to avoid you so it would stop. But it hasn't. It's actually just made things worse," Remus sighed. "Last month on full moon was terrible. Much worse then ever before." There was a long pause as Selene searched Remus face, confused. "I think, that I like you, very, very much," Remus muttered so quietly that Selene had to step closer to hear. "But just because you calmed the werewolf last time doesn't mean you can do it again, and it's dangerous. I'm dangerous. I'm the reason why people don't go out in full moons. Why they're afraid of the dark." Selene tilted her head. "I'm not afraid of the dark," she assured him.

"I'm not going to be responsible for accidently hurting you in a normal state and it seems like that is likely to happen if we are around each other," he said, not looking at her in the eye. "How could that happen? So far you've helped me. You caught me from that tree," she said, trying to catch his eye. He opened his mouth to protest. "If you mean it, say it to my face," she replied sternly. He looked at her in the eyes, his hazel eyes now a deeper brown. He searched her face, opening his mouth, then closing it, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "I don't agree," Selene replied reaching out her hand touching Remus' cheek. "I doubt I'm more powerful then you. You've controlled yourself for years." With that she moved closer. Remus stiffened but didn't move backward. "I'm a dangerous creature. Haven't you taken Defense Against the Dark Arts," he whispered, looking at her. "I took it," she replied. "What's your point?" With that she brought her lips close to his and kissed him quickly. There was only a stiffening reaction and so she stepped back, sheepishly. He stood frozen, arm still on the tree looking at her in shock, his eyes seeming to dance between black and hazel. "Oh," she said embarrassed. She wasn't really sure why she was embarrassed, and now she was simply confused. "I'll leave." But as she took a step away, she felt a hand grab her wrist. Turning she found herself face to face with Remus, who looked her straight in the eye, touching her hair for a moment before kissing her on the lips. It lasted for a few long moments before Remus moved away an inch. "And your sure, " he whispered, moving her black hair from her face and behind her ear. "Sirius liked or maybe still likes you. That could be safer then a monster." Selene chuckled. "Sirius Black, the ladies man? I'd say you're much safer," she replied, kissing him again.

"Promise not to be out on full moon," is what Remus' note had read the next day. Selene had sent one back explaining that this full moon, the one that she was now sneaking out of the castle for, was something she had to attend. He had argued, and pleaded, but there was no use. It had to be done. She had assured him that she could handle him if he and she met. But she had told him she'd be in the clearing. She told him she'd go as soon as the moon rose so they probably wouldn't run into each other. And so, as the moon rose, Selene hurried into the forest, through the now well beaten path to the clearing where Remus and she had met every day that week to talk and kiss and sat on the stump, opening the book to the cryptic writing. She sat for half an hour, waiting for the moon to rise and as it's light crept over the tree, it fell on the cryptic pages that shown brighter then before. The letter didn't change. Serena sighed in annoyance and looked at them. Then she let out a breath. The letters hadn't changed, but she could now understand them and so she leaned closer, making sure not to block the moonlight, and began t read.


	5. Glowing Deatheaters

Chapter 5: Glowing Deatheaters

The Lunar Cycle

If you are reading this, it is no doubt in our minds that you are joining the lunar cycle. To do this, you must know a few very important details brought to you here by Salazar Slytherin and his beloved Diana. Soon Diana will join the moon but before that, for the first time ever, the truth must be written down for future lunar mistresses and misters.

The lunar cycle is not simply the cycle of monthly motion. It is far more complex then that. At some point in every culture, in every land, there is a chosen one. The moon has never simply been a piece of rock in the sky. No rock could ever hold as much power as the Moon does. Before recorded history, it is impossible to say how the power came to be. But what we do know is that the first lunar cycles where created by a culture that worshipped the moon, and so we're rewarded with its powers. However, they spread out through the world when the ice age occurred. Now their bloodline is scattered throughout the world. This is how the Chosen one is chosen by fate. She or he who is related to one of these tribe members by direct blood and whose birth being on the full moon at the stroke of midnight, on the 500 year mark. This 500-year mark is the mark of the New Moon.

This New Moon must do as all other moons have done before them. In order to continue the necessary power and benefits the moon gives, those who hold the moons power in the circumstances must become the moon. It is recorded that in Ancient Greek, when a woman by the name of Artemis refused to join the cycle, the world fell into darkness. For a month, no witch or wizard could do any magic, no muggles could find the routine of harvest and every body of water stood motionless and began to turn stagnant. Finally, during a hunt, Artemis noticed the distress of the deer, which simply began to lie down and decompose, lost. And so, she became the moon and since then, no other has refused to become the moon. To do so would cause more havoc then any other decision.

On the eve of the first day of spring on the 500-year mark, the moon shall die. And at this time, at midnight on the night of darkness, the New Moon must become what it is. The spirit must be released and the mind become a lunar shadow, full of discovery and knowledge from its own New Moon process, in order to help the next New Moon.

The New Moon should not believe themselves invincible. During the eve of the first day of spring, the New Moon is most vulnerable. On that day, the symptoms of the New Moon will appear and all shall know who and what you are. This is where many of the misunderstandings between muggles and whom they think are moon "gods" come from. But this also means that, should you allow it, others can use your powers, against your will. The longer you remain, the more dangerous the threat. No lunar Shadow understands this more then Tsuki-Yomi, known in Shinto as the moon "god." You have been informed and warned. Diana shall join her place soon, and so, if you are reading this, must you.

Selene looked up from the last page quickly. She had heard a rustling in the woods in front of her. Looking at her watch she saw it was midnight. She jumped up and rushed into the opposite bushes, tucking herself deep within. Looking at the page again, she noticed the writing disappearing. It must only appear every 500 years, she thought closing the book. "Oh no, something is wrong," she thought desperately. She looked at her hands. They were glowing faintly. Not bright enough to reveal her in the bushes, but bright enough to be noticeable. "It happens whenever you gain wisdom," whispered a voice quietly. "The moon is known for wisdom." "I don't want to be the moon," Selene hissed, peering out of the bushes to see who was entering the clearing. They were hooded figures, at least five of them, just like the ones she'd followed in September. "It will fade, but not before it helps you this night," whispered the voice again. "I get it, moon is divination as well. That's why I'm suppose to listen to my dreams, right," Selene muttered, trying to hear what the group was saying. They were silently spreading out around the clearing. "Who are you anyway," whispered Selene as the circle came closer and closer to her bush. "Soma," whispered the voice before there was silence.

"Welcome one and all," Said a voice muffled behind a mask. "I have called you hear to discuss with our youngest followers the news the Dark Lord has gained." There was muttering among the other masked hooded figures. As you know, the Dark Lord is related by blood to Salazar Slytherin, who kept a diary about his time with a certain love of his, Diana." Selene strained her hearing further. "He has been pouring over the diaries to find information on the New Moon, and he has. On the eve of spring, that is, the night before the first official day of spring, this very year, the Moon," the speaker pointed to the full moon above them with a dramatic pause. "Will go out." There was more muttering and gasps. "What does that mean," asked a familiar drawl. Selene blinked in surprise. Lucious was a death eater in training! "It means that until midnight, there will be no moon. But as soon as the sun sets, the new moon will reveal itself. And that is when we strike! The dark lord has looked through many blood lines and in his magnificent wisdom believes that the New Moon will be a witch or wizard in the UK." More muttering followed this. "They may even be at Hogwarts." A masked figure stepped forward. "I have suspicious activity to note," said the voice. A high pitched but unfamiliar voice behind the mask. "A few days ago, one student was pouring over books when she began to glow ever so softly, like the moon. On further investigation," the bowed speaker gulped and looked at his peers with his blue eyes. "I found that she had been reading a book on muggle myths and Folklore of Moon Gods and Goddesses." Selene cursed herself, looking at her hands, which were still glowing slightly. Finding out all this death eater activity was not helping her condition. And apparently, she had been glowing without knowing, in the library, and now that she thought about it, probably when Sirius had kissed her. He had mentioned she looked paler and almost illuminated. "Well done, keep special eye on that student, but do not reveal her name nor yours to anyone present. This forest is not secure so close to the castle," said the original speaker as the bowed one stood and moved back to the circle. "Are we still under Dumbledore's watch," asked a deep, gruff voice that sounded like Crabbe. "We are technically outside Hogwarts grounds, but his old eyes pry farther then most," snapped the speaker. Selene frowned as her hand, which had begun to dim refused to go out. She put it back on the ground and a twig cracked. The hooded figures all turned.

"Who is that," demanded the speaker, moving forward towards the bush Selene hid in. Selene looked around she was stuck. If she ran, they would see her glowing and know. But if she stayed… The figure was fast approaching. "Where are those lunar things when I need them," Selene muttered quietly to herself. Just as the Death eater speaker was about to lift his wand to shoot something into the bush, there was a rustling behind Selene. Then with a growl a giant dog burst from behind Selene, over the bush and into the circle. It growled. The hooded figures all brought out their wands but they rose, as did Selene, when a howl to freeze blood filled the clearing. "Run," Shouted the speaker, who disappeared as if disapparating. Now Selene understood why they held meetings outside the bounds of Hogwarts. The rest of the hooded figures didn't need to be told twice. As the last ran off, the werewolf who had howled jumped over the bush and into the clearing, snarling. Moments later, a rat rushed in from the bushes where the hooded figures had left, seemed to communicate silently with the dog, nodding to the way they'd run and seeming to say they were all gone. The werewolf snarling, circling and tossing its head, seemed to be waiting for something. It sniffed the ground and Selene felt something nudge her in the back. She turned to see the male deer that had lead her out of the forest last time she and Remus werewolf had met. She stood and it blinked, surprised by her. She looked down; she was still glowing a bit. She sighed. "It's a long story," she told the deer. The werewolf stopped sniffing and gave a snort of recognition, its tongue lulling out.

"You really saved my butt there," Selene smiled, stepping from the bushes. The dog and rat looked nervously from the werewolf to Selene. The werewolf took a step forward and the dog growled. The werewolf growled back before continuing forward. The black eyes of the werewolf were slowly turning brown and by the time Selene was an arms length away, she could see the hazel eyes of Remus Lupin looking at her. "Thank you very much," she smiled, reaching out. The werewolf's eyes shifted from her face to her hand uneasily, as the dog, rat, and deer stepped forward, ready to do something. Selene wasn't sure what. The full moon fell on the clearing and a breeze blew past Selene as she noticed her hand, inches away from the werewolf's snout glowed a bit more. She laid her hand on his snout to thank him and he let out a cry of pain, howling without lifting his head from her hand. It was as if her hand and his snout were suddenly welded together, and though she tried to pull it off, she saw her glow fading. Starting from the hand farthest from him, her fingers slowly lost their luminous color and then it traveled up her arm, across her shoulders, down her torso. By this time, the werewolf had begun to shrink, his fur lessoning, his body becoming smaller. By the time the glow had faded everywhere except the arm on the snout, the snout had begun to shrink and the werewolf's wolf body was now more human then wolf. By the time the glow had disappeared everywhere above her wrist, Remus looked at her, waving his wand to make pants appear as the last of his fur disappeared to leave scratches on his face and back. By the time he was completely back to normal, the glow was gone from Selene's body. "Selene, that was amazing," Remus muttered stepping forward. Selene removed her hand from his nose and smiled. "Are you alright? You look really pale," he said. The dog, deer, and rat had disappeared. But Selene could hear the rustling of bushes and sounds of familiar voices approaching. "My book needs to go back to the library," Selene muttered staggering forward, looking at her hand, which became fuzzy for a moment before coming back into focus. "Selene," Remus asked worriedly, catching her in her stagger. "How did you do that?" Selene felt the world lift from below her and she felt herself falling and falling. "Selene," Remus' voice asked, seemingly so far away. "I'm New Moon," she muttered before falling completely into darkness.

Not even the stars where there it was so dark. Then suddenly, like a light being turned on, there was a lit circle with chairs and a table. And then people began to appear. A tall man, muscular and broad with thick braids and a stern expression passed her, nodding and giving her a half smile. "Yarikh," he said as he passed, sitting down. The next that passed was a Japanese man, with skin as pale as the moon, caring a long spear that dripped with water, his robes covered in symbols. "Tsuki-Yomi," he muttered with a bow of his head. This happened again and again, a man from India nodded to her, introducing himself in passing as "Soma," A bearded man passed, stroking his beard thoughtfully, a staff walking staff in his hand, who nodded and introduced himself as Nanna in a deep familiar voice. Then a beautiful dark skinned woman with a bracelet around her upper arm and a beaded necklace around her neck smiled kindly, touching Selene's shoulder and muttered "Mawu." A young Egyptian with a pharaoh's beard and headdress introduced himself as Khons, followed by an old woman named Ix Chel. Then came the middle aged Heng-O, whose black hair was piled on her head in a fancy do, eyes shining with affection. Then an olive skinned woman with heavy earrings and eagle feathers introduced herself as Coyolxauhqui. Then came Artemis, wrapped in a white and shining toga, hair tied back in a bun and bow and arrows around her shoulders. Finally was the 500-year old Diana, who appeared with long blonde hair, and wrapped in wizard robes, a shining snake of the Slytherin seal on her chest. They all sat and looked at Selene, who stepped forward, unsure of what to do.

"Come to the center, sister," Khon, apparently the youngest said, motioning to the place the table had once been. Now it was simply empty space. Selene stepped forward. "Did you see what just happened," smiled Heng-o. "She changed a werewolf to its human form." "Impressive," Smiled Artemis. "Dangerous," snapped Soma. "Imagine if she had not been strong enough. The world would have fallen into 500 years of darkness without a moon! And at a time like this with such evil." "Irresponsible," agreed Nanna. "They already want to use her powers for themselves, imagine if one of them saw and found out who the new moon was." "I'm standing right here you know," Selene informed them. There was a moment of silence before a few of them laughed. "Indeed you are," smiled Mawu. "Excuse our bickering. It happens every time a New Moon begins to arrive. Isn't that right Diana?" Diana nodded, looking at Selene with her bright blue eyes. "I was never able to do such things so soon before the spring," Ix Chel declared to the group. "I couldn't control water with such precision until it was mid winter."

"And I hear whispers that even when she is not aglow, she effects those who have conditions effected by the moon," agreed Coyolxauhqui. "Truly impressive, but none-the-less," interrupted Soma. "This fellow, this Voldemort. He plans something for our new moon. We must be discreet." "Wait, I thought you all were lunar shadows, how can you have forms," Selene asked suddenly. This was all a bit much to take in. "We are all connected by the bond of our blood tribe. Now that you know the tribal secret, you can see us in your dreams," Tsuki-Yomi replied calmly. "Because you now know what you are, and have sued your power, you are connected to the moon. We are in the moon." "After a certain thousand years or so, our souls go wherever souls go, but until then they remain in the moon. To help out. We are less powerful then the new moon, but each helps to train the moons power," explained Yarikh. "So, I'm dreaming now," asked Selene. "Technically, your unconscious," Diana replied with a smile. "We just used that as an excuse to enter your subconscious and talk with you." "Unconscious," asked Selene confused. "Your power is consistent or strong enough to effect creatures, at least not in the way of transformations," Nanna snapped. "At least it's not suppose to be. So when you touched the snout of that monster, and changed him back without meaning to, you over exerted your new power." "He isn't a monster, his name is Remus," snapped Selene. "Do you care for him," asked Soma carefully. Selene nodded slowly. "I suggest you lose that caring, for you will have to lose him," Nanna said matter-of-factly. "What," Selene asked annoyed. "I will not 'lose that' until I have to." "But know you will have to," Soma said sadly. "We all did. The price of being a God, as the muggles call us, is a high price." "We are not here to depress her," snapped Mawu. "We are here to tell you to keep practicing and discovering. To love and lose. To be careful and aware. There are enemies around for you more then for any of us. Thanks to a certain Slytherin." Mawu looked over at Diana whose pale cheeks blushed a bit. Her shine was brighter then most of the others. As if reading her thoughts Tsuki-Yomi answered, "It's because she is the recent moon. Soon you will be brightest of all of us. The most dim was the moon first, but we all seem the same after a certain point." Selene nodded. "Be wary and careful," repeated Diana looking at Selene in the eye. "Share your secret with only those who will keep it." Selene nodded. She could hear her name being called in the distance. "They are calling you back," Khons said. "We will visit again to tell you important messages and lessons." Selene nodded, unsure of what that meant. She could hear her name being called louder and louder, closer and closer. The lit stage disappeared, as did every person in a chair. She was in starless darkness again and then her name was being called terribly loudly.

She moaned and turned over, opening her eyes to the bright outside. In the chair next to her sat the still shirtless Remus, still scratched though he had a few bandages on him. He was fast asleep. Next to him were three empty chairs. "He carried you here, though Madam Pomfrey can't understand where he got the strength." Selene turned to see Dumbledore looking at her, eyes twinkling. "He is usually so weak after a transformation. Then again, she also couldn't understand how his transformation could have ended at 1 when the moon was still full." "How long was I asleep," she asked, taking a sip of water form a glass next to her bed. "Two days," replied Sirius voice as he entered the wing with James and Lily. They smiled at her. Peter came puffing in after. "I take it the shadows helped," Dumbledore asked with a smile. Selene nodded as the rest of the students looked confused. "When you feel well enough, perhaps in another day, please come to my office," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Lily, James, Sirius, Peter, you should all come as well. And Remus please, when he is awake." They nodded. "Here you go," Sirius said putting a plate of food in front of Selene. "Eat." "Has anyone else come to visit," Selene asked, thinking of Narcissa. Sirius' face darkened as he nodded. "Selene," Lily said softly, putting her hand on Selene's forehead. "What happened?" Selene explained the whole ordeal from the bushes to losing consciousness. "But what I don't get," James said, leaning close to whisper. "Is, why were you in the bushes to start with?" Selene looked at them cautiously. "I had to read something that only moonlight would show. It was the point of the riddle," Selene answered softly.

"She needs rest," Madam Pomfrey's bustling voice said, shooing Sirius, Lily, James, and Peter out of the Hospital Wing. "As for you, get in bed if you're so tired," she snapped at the groggy Remus. Selene lay down and looked over at Remus who turned and looked at her. "Are you alright," he whispered, looking cautiously over at Madam Pomfrey. Selene nodded. "Are you," she asked. "Are you kidding," he asked with a smile. "You made it so I didn't have to be a monster all night. I couldn't be better." Selene smiled lazily. She was suddenly tired again. Maybe she had used too much energy. She felt her eyes closing. "Selene?" "Hmm," she answered. "Go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend," Remus asked. There was a moment silence and then Selene answered, "Love to." Then she fell back asleep, not noticing Remus' beaming face.


	6. Talks of Butterbeer

Disclaimer: I do not own the song from Les Miserables "empty chairs at empty tables." I wish I did but I don't. Sorry :-( Also, not all the words are there because they are talking over the song at times. I felt the need to explain that incase anyone loves this song and are insulted about the missing liens.

Chapter 6: Talks of Butterbeer

Selene walked slowly down the stairs, across the hall towards the entrance to the stairwell that led to Dumbledore's office. She paused for a moment. The halls were empty since most people were in class, but two loud arguing voices could be heard. Tired of hearing the same question of what had happened to her and if she was okay, Selene jumped behind a suit of armor, smashing herself between the armor and the wall. The voices were echoing in the silent halls, though it was obvious that their intent was to be quiet. "Cissa, it is nothing personal. I love her as much as you do. But for the future of the wizarding world, this is the best option." Lucious drawl was attempting to whisper, but his frustration was still evident. "It's either we use the powers, or those idiot blood traitor and muggle lovers use it." "I just don't understand why both sides can't let her be," Narcissa's voice snapped, she was approaching much faster. Selene could see them now, Narcissa marching ahead nose in the air, blonde hair whipping behind her. Lucious rushed after her, an exasperated look on his face. He grabbed her hand and turned her around. "Cissa, darling, angel of my life," he said looking her right in the eye. "She is going to go one way or another. The Dark Lord just wants to get a few things done before she does. In a moonless night, certain potions and soul divisions are most powerful. Most witches and wizards find their magic weakened on such night, but with the proper potion before hand, those who have prepared will have stronger power." Narcissa turned her head away, tugging her hand. But Lucious did not move or let go. "Think about the vision for the future. One in which the children of witches and wizards won't have to hide and disguise themselves from muggles. It is a future for us, Cissa." Narcissa's shoulders slacked and she looked at him. "Promise she won't get hurt," Narcissa asked. Luscious nodded, then they kissed and moved on through the hall. Selene sighed rolling her eyes. Sold out by her best friend for golden promises in the future, she thought. "Selene." Selene jumped as someone grabbed her hand and pulled her from behind the armor. Remus smiled at her. "How'd you know I was there," she asked amazed. He tapped his nose with a smile, kissing her forehead. "Oh yeah, that nose," she tutted. "Besides," Remus snickered, lifting her hand that was in his. "You're glowing." Selene blushed as she kissed his cheek and they headed up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.

By the time they had reached the top, the glow had faded, to Selene's relief. When she entered, she saw the room did not simply hold Sirius, Lily, and James. But also an older man she recognized in the paper as an Auror named Moody, and two graduates from Hogwarts who had married, something Longbottoms. They had been Gryffindor and Hufflepuff so she hadn't met them. There were a number of other people in the room as well and all turned to look at her, even the portraits as she entered. Selene looked around unsure Dumbledore waved his wand, and a curtain fell over the portraits, surrounding them in what Selene assumed was a soundproof bubble. "Welcome, Selene. These are all member of the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore told her, motioning to those people around him. Selene nodded, only half knowing what that meant. "Consider us, your personal body guards," grunted Moody, giving her a crooked smile. "We have information," Dumbledore said motioning for everyone to sit in the chairs that had suddenly appeared. "That Voldemort," the whole room shuddered. Dumbledore, seemingly oblivious, continued, "Wishes to use the time before the New Moons ascent to put some of his finer plans into action. He has a suspicion that the New Moon is younger, with less experience, and thus he believes he can take advantage of what he thinks is a weaker moon." Many of the people in the room nodded, concerned looks on their faces. "But, Professor," Selene said, unsure if she was allowed to interrupt. "Magic doesn't work without the moon. Or it's suppose to be weaker." James titled his head slightly looking at Selene puzzled. "Very good," Dumbledore said, clapping his hands in delight as if Selene had answered a question on a quiz correctly. "However, recently potions have been made to fix that. In fact, Salazar Slytherin used the opportunity of his lover, Diana, becoming the moon to test out the potion. On the night of the New Moon, before midnight, he drank a potion made a month before under the dying power of the old moon, with Diana's help. Because it contained a bit of the old and new moons powers, while all his peers could barely levitate a brick, he was able to rearrange the entire room of heavy wooden furniture with a single sweep of his wand. Some say he was even stronger with the moon out, then when it returned. Diana made sure to take her power back after she ascended." Selene blinked, confused at how Dumbledore could know so much.

"So, what your saying is," Sirius said leaning closer. "That Selene will be in danger from the month before she is suppose to ascend to the moment she does?" "What does that ascending entail anyway," asked a tall dark skinned man in robes of deep blue. "Is there a potion or is it more then that?" The room turned towards Selene, who shrunk back in the sudden attention. Remus' hand tightened on hers as he too turned in curiosity. "I think," Dumbledore began, making everyone turn once again to look at him. "That is something best left for a closer time." Everyone shifted uncomfortably as if this was not what they had wanted to hear, but remained silent all the same. "What we do need to know is when the ascend will happen so that we are all on the same page." "The eve of the first day of spring," Selene said. "So I suppose the 19th at midnight is when I'll actually, ascend." She shifted uncomfortably. This was all very strange. Talking about her, whatever, with so many strangers. As if it were a picnic in the park. "Until then, you will be watched in Hogwarts. The eyes and ears of it will make sure to keep you safe. We don't want another almost discovery like the one a few days ago," Dumbledore said with a smile, eyes twinkling at Selene. Selene smiled, though half-heartedly. No one had told her what it meant to ascend. She knew her soul would be the moon, whatever that meant, but how would she make a lunar shadow? Did she have to, she felt her eyes widen with realization. Dumbledore's eyes stopped twinkling as if understanding what she had just realized. Selene felt faint, as if the air she was breathing was suddenly heavy and made of liquid. "Catch her, Remus," Dumbledore's voice said far off. She felt herself fall back and the last thing she thought before it all went dark was that ascending was a much nicer word for it.

In the darkness, she moved forward, a faint glow illuminating her direct surroundings. She looked down. Well, at least people knew when she had made a new discovery, she thought. She looked up from her glowing hands and saw trees appearing around her in a star filled, but moonless sky. She continued walking forward, past trees, and over a river that she had to hop on two stones to cross. Ahead of her, she saw a glow like the moon falling across a lake. As she peered around the tree, she saw the dim glow of a tall woman with piled hair and a white or silver toga. Artemis looked over her shoulder at the sound of Selene, and tucked an arrow she was about to shoot back into her bag, putting her bow on her shoulder. "I was waiting," Artemis said looking down at Selene. Selene felt very small. "I will tell you why there was a month of moonless nights," Artemis said, looking over Selene's head as a deer rushed past. "I found out my destiny from a messenger who brought word from my town elder, just outside of Athens. I lived in Athens at the time, soon to be married to a soldier. And I ignored all the symptoms, the sudden ability to move water, the attractions owls had to me, even my power in the hunt. I did love the hunt and saw the deer trusting me as simply a marker of my skill. That is until the eve of spring. At the beginning of the day, I began to glow bright, much brighter then you and I are glowing now. I heard I looked like a dream I was so bright. I tried to explain it was because I was the moon, the new moon, but the non-magics took that to mean I was a goddess and began to worship me, bringing me food and jewels. It was hard to resist, you can imagine." Artemis pushed a branch aside and signaled for Selene to follow her. "So, with life being so good, why would I have any desire to ascend, as they put it? The shadows had begun to talk to me and tell me what I needed to do, but I brushed them away. Then the night came, and the non-magics believed even more that I was a goddess for I shone brightly, but there was no moon in the sky. After a few weeks, I noticed my friends, who also were able to use the powers of nature, had weakened. They could no longer use their powers as before. Some had given up completely. One, who was a healer, could not make a single potion to cure the sick. That would change if I were to stand right next to her, but she told me of her many failed attempts when I was not near."

Selene and Artemis had reached a lake, which shone from their light, but reflected nothing in the sky. "Soon I saw water begin to grow stagnant from the lack of movement, animals begin to die for no apparent reason, even some non-magics where going crazy in my presence. I decided that if I wished for all those I loved to survive, I would have to ascend. So I went into the forest. I was too attached to everything on earth, my soldier, my new popularity, and my power. I could not simply release." "What did you do," asked Selene curiously. "Some, who have accepted their fate, can simply concentrate on creating a moon in their mind and breathe out. Mawu was able to simply sit down, close her eyes and breathe out her soul to the moon. Then she fell over and her mind created a lunar shadow on it's own. Then she was gone from the physical world," Artemis explained, skipping a rock across the still lake. "I could not do that. So when I approached this lake, I used a string from my bow to tie a rock to my ankle and jumped in. Luckily the lake was deep, so no one found me. But that was the only way I could let go of this world." Selene looked into the water, and sat up. She could see the glowing Artemis, as bright as the full moon, open her mouth, and a ball of white light seep out, through the water and into the sky, where it swirled and mixed and then settled, illuminating the forest. "It is not death, so much as sleep, if you do as Mawu did," Artemis said, pointing her bow and arrow at a passing deer. "You will still be able to watch the world for 500 years, even control it a bit. Some have even been able to use their lunar shadows to speak to their loved ones in dreams. All things must die. But few are allowed to live on for 500 years." Selene looked back from the water to Artemis, but the woman had disappeared. Everything had disappeared.

Slowly the image of Dumbledore appeared before Selene's eyes. "Ah, welcome back," he smiled, pushing up his half moon spectacles and moving away. Remus replaced his face. "Are you alright," he asked. Selene nodded sitting up to find the room empty except for James, Sirius, Lily, Remus, Dumbledore, and herself. Peter had joined them at some point. "I think you all should head off to dinner. Its about that time," Dumbledore smiled. He then shooed them out of his office. "What happened," asked Sirius as they left. "Nothing, just a dream," Selene replied with a shrug. "You were glowing a bit, did you find something out," asked James curiously. "Sort of, I-" Selene shrugged, waving her hand at the rest of the sentence. "What did they mean by ascend," Remus asked curiously. "Wait, so you're the new moon," Peter squeaked. All heads turned to him. "Where have you been Pete," Sirius laughed, slapping the small boys back. The blonde gave a pained expression before laughing along. "Leave Selene alone," Lily tutted. "She is going to be with us at Hogsmeade on Saturday, annoy her with questions then." With that Lily led Selene off to the Great Hall. "Thanks," smiled Selene, feeling relieved to be away from the prying questions. "No problem. Have fun," Lily smiled, releasing her arm and heading towards the Gryffindor table.

Saturday was the perfect day for Hogsmeade. The sun shone down on the first blanket of frost as November had slowly moved to December. Selene had put on her gloves and scarf and walked to the carriages. She wasn't sure where they were meeting, but Remus had said something about the haunted house on the hilltop just outside of Hogsmeade. The shrieking shack she thought it was called. Selene thought she would stop by the Three Broomsticks. As she entered she saw a strange contraption against the wall. "What is that," she asked the woman at the bar. "Some muggle thing called a juke box. You put in a coin and it plays a song. We just got it. We charmed it so it doesn't need that electricity thing, and no money. You just choose a song. Wanna try," asked the woman with a smile. "Maybe dance with a certain boy?" "Oh just two butterbeers for now," Selene replied with s smile. Turning she saw the door open and the shivering figures of Remus, Sirius, Peter, James, and Lily enter. "Hey there, I was just stopping in to get butterbeer before meeting you," Remus said with a smile. Selene handed him one of hers. "Great minds," she said with a smile as they joined the others at the table. "What, none for us," Sirius pouted half-heartedly. "Sharing is caring," James told them wisely. Selene shrugged, sitting down next to Remus. James stood "Apparently, its up to me to save the day," he said with a certain amount of gusto, walking over to the bar. He talked with the woman for a bit before bring butterbeers for everyone. "Hey, did you hear about this jubox?" Lily giggled. "It's a juke box, silly. I love those, lets see what songs they have." She stood and led James over to it. "This could be bad," Sirius muttered with a smirk at Peter who shook his head as the two lovebirds by the music box seemed to be arguing. "Be back in a moment," Remus muttered heading to the bathroom.

A song began to play, very softly, a sad mournful tune. "Lily, what did you choose," Sirius asked, shaking his finger at the red head. "It's one of my favorite songs from Les Miserable's, a muggle show. All the songs are show tunes in there anyway." She sipped form her butterbeer before pulling James out to dance. Sirius, Selene, and Peter all exchanged a look.

There's a grief that can't be spoken.

There's a pain goes on and on.

Empty chairs at empty tables

Now my friends are dead and gone.

"Well, this is definitely a pick me up," Sirius chuckled, finishing his Butterbeer. Selene laughed taking another sip. "Nothing to it but to join you know," he continued, dejectedly standing up and dusting himself off. He held out his hand. Selene looked at him confused. "Yes, you," Sirius said with a bark like laugh. "I'm not offering to Peter." Selene hesitantly stood taking Sirius' hand. He put one hand on her waist and one he held her hand as they moved backward then forward in a box step. "This is odd," Selene whispered looking over at Lily and James who were talking quietly amongst themselves. "Don't worry, as soon as Remus comes back I'll hand you over," Sirius assured her with a smile.

Here they sang about `tomorrow'

And tomorrow never came.

"That's not why it's odd," she muttered. "Why is it odd then," Sirius whispered back. "And why are we whispering?" "This song is talking about death," she whispered back.

And they rose with voices ringing

I can hear them now!

The very words that they had sung

Became their last communion

On the lonely barricade at dawn.

"Is it now," Sirius asked. "Well, maybe it's cursed. Maybe all who dance to it will die fighting." He smiled at her. "That's not funny," she told him looking around. "I'm trying to make the song more cheerful, Selene," he told her softly. "Can you just let me enjoy this moment, please?" She raised her eyebrow confused, a strand of hair falling across her forehead.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me

That I live and you are gone.

There's a grief that can't be spoken.

There's a pain goes on and on.

He pushed the hair from her forehead. "After all," he continued as if uninterrupted. "We all die, right?" Selene looked up at him confused. He had a strange look on his face as if he was looking past her, into some tragic future only he could sense. But he couldn't and he shook his head and smiled. "This song does stick with you, doesn't it," he asked.

Empty chairs at empty tables

Where my friends will meet no more.

"It seems a bit relevant though, don't you think," he continued, talking over her head. "With this whole war going on." Selene nodded, looking at him. His dark eyes were determined suddenly. "Sirius, everything will turn out fine," Selene told him, though she didn't know what she was referring to. He smiled weakly. "Though being in the Order of the Phoenix now," he said quietly, making sure no one could hear. "Who really knows? Maybe I'll be signing this one day." "But your dancing to it, doesn't that mean you die," Selene asked with a smile. Sirius let out a laugh. "Then Peter will sing it, he's left completely," Sirius said nodding over to the table.

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me

What your sacrifice was for

"Or Remus. He has a much better singing voice," Sirius added as an afterthought. Spinning Selene away from him before bowing in an over exaggerated fashion and turning to beam at Remus. "Your lady, my lord," he said with a strange cockney accent. Remus smirked. "Thank you my good man," Remus replied, pretending to fix his monical. "Seems I missed the terribly depressing song and dance." "Don't worry, it was terrible," Lily told him, hitting James in the stomach with her elbow. "This one wouldn't shut up." "He rarely does," Remus reminded her. "Lets go for a walk," Selene told Remus, taking his hand and leading him back into the cold.

They walked for a bit, simply talking and laughing. Finally they reached the shrieking shack. "So it's haunted, huh," Selene asked looking at the house as she leaned against the breaking fence. "So they say," Remus said with a smile. He tossed a bit if snow at her. "Hey," she said, pushing his shoulder. "I'll get the ghosts on you." "Oh you will," he asked skeptically. "Don't you know, I can control all sorts of night creatures? Its like a gift." She shrugged and smiled. "Well, lets test that out," Remus said, jumping the fence. She blinked looking around. "Remus, its haunted," she hissed. "So is Hogwarts, come on," he said motioning to her. She frowned. "Remus Lupin, come back here," she demanded. He turned and began walking lazily towards the house. "Remus," she hissed again. He simply looked over his shoulder with a smile before continuing onward. With a burst of playful adrenaline, she hopped over the fence and rushed toward him. He had just enough time to turn before she collided with him and they fell on the ground, one on top of the other. "You won't be going anywhere now," she told him, sitting up with a smile, pushing hair from her eyes. He laughed, looking up at her. Then his face became serious "What's the matter," she asked. "Did the ghosts get you?" "What does it mean that you'll ascend," he asked quietly. She scanned his face, searching to see if he was really asking, if he could take the real answer. "It means I have to, release my soul and mind. So much so that," she paused searching the house in front of them for answers. "You die," he asked in a soft voice. She turned back to him. "Well I mean, technically, but I'll be the moon." She said pointing to the sky. "You'll see me every night." "What if I protect you so you don't die," Remus asked, sitting up and running his hand across her cheek. "It doesn't work like that Rem," she said softly, looking into his hazel eyes. "It could," he said. "I thought I was always a werewolf under the full moon, no matter what. But that wasn't true. Maybe this isn't either." She smiled sadly, kissing him softly. "It is, Rem," she answered. "It is true." "Why do you have to be the New Moon," he asked annoyed.

"What was that?" Remus stood, bringing Selene up with him ashe sniffed the air. There had been a rustling in the bushes just outside the fence a few feet away. Three figures rushed off, silver and green scarves blowing in the wind as they ran. "I thought I smelled rats," Remus sighed. "They already knew, I think," Selene assured the guilty looking Remus. "Someone told them, or hinted it was me. I heard Narcissa and Malfoy talking." "I won't let any of them get you," Remus told her firmly. "Hear that, no one," he yelled to the empty clearing. "Lets get some candy," she suggested with a smile, pushing some snow from his hair. He smiled back and lifted her onto his back. Selene smiled, but it faltered as Artemis' voice echoed in her mind "I was too attached to this world." She shook her head and laughed at Remus' joke. She'd worry about that later.


	7. The Final Countdown

Chapter 7: The final countdown

"Ouch!" Selene let the now broken glass fall to the floor of the hallway. "Oh no, you broke it," Lucious drawled, picking up the pieces and looking at her hand with a worried expression. "Are you alright, Selene?" Selene, Narcissa, and Lucious looked up to see Remus, his arm now around Selene's shoulder. He took her hand, inspecting it closely. "Doesn't look like there is any glass in there," he said with a smile and with a wave of his wand, he had cleaned it and bandaged it. "We could have handled it, Lupin," Lucious hissed, glaring daggers at the sandy haired boy. "I suppose so, but not before she lost so much blood she fainted," Remus snapped back. "Besides, I have practice with healing cuts." He winked at Selene before rejoining the Marauders and Lily. "Odd how it broke so easily," Narcissa said comfortingly to Lucious. "Yes," Lucious said, seemingly having a hard time regaining his composure after the run in. "Mother never could find worthy glass. This seems to be some cheap piece. Shattering so easily. And in such large pieces." "Lucky it did though," Narcissa said with a smile. "Not a drop of blood got on any of the glass pieces. They must have cut and run." She smiled at Selene who smiled back. Lucious tossed the glass in the air, and made it explode with his wand. "I'm off to class,' he told them, moving off with a wave of his hand. "He was acting very odd," Selene commented. Narcissa shrugged. "He hates being helped by people, and he hates when people give him cheap things. Both just happened," she explained with a smile. Selene nodded. "You'll have to put up with two babies if you every have kids," Selene laughed.

February was upon them and December and January had flown past without much excitement. Selene was now able to control water on command, and she had found owls and other animals had become more and more friendly to her. She had spent the last full moons with Remus, and planned to do so again this full moon. Overall, she was doing her best to ignore the warning Artemis gave of being too attached to the physical world. And this month, she felt as if the whole physical world was out to get her. Between breaking glasses, tripping over empty air, falling off of stairs, it had been an accident-prone month. "It's odd, isn't it," Lily muttered in the library as Selene had just managed to duck from a very sharp paper airplane. "You weren't this accident-prone before, it's as if something is trying to get you." "Maybe you have a poltergeist," suggested Sirius casually. "Lovely," Selene snapped, throwing a wad of parchment at his head. "Just what I need." "Maybe you shouldn't play Quidditch tonight," Remus suggested. "Especially after this afternoon when you were cut by the glass." "I'm fine and what could possibly happen at Quidditch," she asked with a smile. "Besides, that's tomorrow. Tonight I'm helping one of Slughorn's struggling students with a potion." "Who," asked James curiously. Selene looked at her book, suddenly very interested in it. "Mind you I don't choose who it is, they request me," she said turning the page slowly. "Who is it," Peter repeated. Selene gave a little cough. "Bellatrix." There was a slam of a book on a table and Selene jumped and looked up. "If there is anyone out there who would be a poltergeist, it would be Bella," Sirius snarled, eyes suddenly very dark. "I will remember that," Selene said with a smile. "But right now, I need to go to potions to help. I promise I won't come back a deatheater." She kissed Remus' cheek and marched determinedly off to the dungeon.

When she entered, the room had a peculiar smell to it. She coughed, waving her hand around to clear the room. "Bella," she called. "Oh, your here, thank goodness," called a voice. Selene waved her wand and the thick air disappeared to reveal Bella, bubble charm around her head to give her air. "I tried mixing the potion before you came," she said, her dark eyes dancing with laughter. It was odd how different Sirius and Bella were. When Sirius' eyes danced with laughter, it made all around him laugh as well. But when Bella's eyes danced, it made Selene feel extremely uneasy. Selene let out another cough before saying "It's fine." She cleared the potion in the cauldron and they began. "So this potion isn't too difficult, it just takes precision. You know, chopping finely has to be chopped finely." And hour or so later, the potion was bubbling merrily as a violet liquid. "Brilliant," Bella cooed. Again, Selene felt uneasy. Everything about Bella, and her boyfriend, that Lestrange boy, made her feel unsafe. But she shook it off and smiled. "Yeah, and the best part is that if you drink this, in half an hour time you can blend in with any surrounding. For about an hour and a half. That's why it's called the chameleon potion." "Thanks, Slughorn said I needed a really impressive potion to raise my grade, think this will do," Bella asked. Selene nodded. She was suddenly very tired. "I'll just bottle a few up," Bella said as she filled three small bottles with the potion. She handed one to Selene to fill as well, which Selene did half-heartedly. "I have Quidditch tomorrow," she told Bella. "I should probably go." "Have fun! Sorry about the smoke," Bella called after her. "Don't fall off your broom."

"Don't fall off your broom." The cheerful departing word was possibly one of the creepiest things Selene had ever heard. She couldn't shake it, not that night, and not the next evening when she walking out to the Quidditch field for practice. It had shaken her so much that she had forgotten to give the Chameleon potion she had bottled to Bellatrix, not that she wanted to go out of her way to see Bellatrix again. It must have been the look on Bella's face that had added the creepy factor, Selene thought as she kicked off from the ground. Bella had smiled, but it had not reached her eyes. Rather, it seemed to stop short, leaving eyes as cold as death. Selene shivered. "Selene, pay attention!" She looked up, ducking as a bludger nearly hit her in the head. "Thank god," Lucious sighed flying over and hitting her arm. "If a bludger hits you and you're out of the game, I will personally kill you." She laughed and threw the quaffle over his head to another chaser. "Noted," she smiled flying. They were learning a new maneuver today. She flew into position and pulled her broom up to slow down. But her hand slipped and she fell forward, hitting her face on the broom. Embarrassed, she quickly sat up. Her lip felt sore. She licked it and tasted blood. "Perfect," she sighed shaking her head. She saw the chaser to her left give her the signal to move forward, so she began flying. The quaffle flew over one chaser, under the other. A fake to the left and then in was flying over to her. She reached out to catch it and felt it hit her hand.

She let out a sound a pain, letting the quaffle slip from her hand. She looked down. Pulling off her chaser glove, she found that the cut from Lucious' glass yesterday had begun to bleed profusely. But that wasn't all. A cut from a butter knife when she was five had opened on her pinky, and a scar from falling into thorn bushes when she was 9 had also opened. Every cut she had ever received that had bled was suddenly open on her arms, legs and stomach. Even her back seared in pain as the once existent nail marks from a fight she'd gotten into with a Hufflepuff girl in 2nd year felt as if they'd just been inflicted. Selene landed her broom, tearing off her padding and falling on the ground. She felt light-headed form loss of so much blood. Hurriedly, she tried to stop some of the bleeding with her socks, even part of her robe. The rest of the team had landed next to her now. Lucious rushed over and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, taking her hand, which was bleeding the most, in his and wrapping it firmly in his handkerchief. In moments it was soaked in blood and dripping. "What the hell is going on," She screamed, feeling light headed afterwards. "I don't know, I don't know, Lucious said, eyes panicked and darting back and forth. "What did you do?" "Nothing, I caught the quaffle," Selene snapped back. "Your losing to much blood. Don't just stand there Crabbe, get some help," he screamed. Crabbe zipped off as fast as he could. Selene felt herself sinking into the ground, voices around her sounded muffled and far off. "Selene," Lucious asked, tapping her cheek. "Selene, wake up." She opened her eyes to see Madam Pomfrey over her "Stay with us, honey," the nurse cooed. Then when she opened her eyes again, she saw the white ceiling of the hospital wing. She closed her eyes again, and this time she opened them to see the figure of Diana standing in front of her.

Diana moved away from Selene in silence and Selene found she was standing. She followed Diana silently; unsure of what she was suppose to do. Suddenly, Diana disappeared and in her place stood a tall, pale man, with black hair and black beetle eyes, the Slytherin snake on his chest. "Diana, it's only an experiment. Surely it can't hurt anyone. I need only one drop from you. No more, no less," The man hissed. Even without speaking parseltongue, Salazar Slytherin sounded like he was speaking snake. "I'm not Diana," Selene started to say, but out of her mouth came Diana's voice, "What does that mean and why does it matter anyway?" "It means I need but a prick of your finger to make the potion complete," he replied taking her hand. "You are leaving me," he continued, looking into her eyes with an astounding appearance of loss. "Can you not help me with this last thing? The last full moon is tonight and the blood must be fresh, no more then two days old. Please." Selene blinked confused, but Diana's voice answered again, "Alright. But do not write this potion down. It is for your eyes and ear only. Never shall this potion be used again. Having power when no one else does is a dangerous thing." Then the scene began to change and in a whirlwind of images, Serena saw her hand pricked with a needle and the blood dropped in a smoldering cauldron of blue liquid. As soon as it met the surface, it turned silver, like a beam of moonlight. Then she saw her hands glowing, the sky moonless and Slytherin pleading her to wait just one more hour before she ascended. She saw Slytherin showing an array of magic, smashing, bashing, destroying and creating, while the on looking wizards could barely levitate a table. Then she saw the look of power in Slytherins eyes, the twinkle of madness, and she breathed out. She saw a large white ball, like the one that had escaped Artemis' mouth form in the lake, form in front of her, and the images stopped. Diana stood before her once again, a solemn look on her face. "Your blood will make the same occur. The only way to stop it is to ascend. They have your blood, do not let them use it for their gain." Then Selene felt a pull and she blinked, looking up at the white ceiling of the hospital wing once again. She sat up.

It was hours later and pitch dark outside the window. On her arms and legs were bandages with blood marks on them. "Can we stop meeting like this?" Selene looked over at the voice to see Remus, blinking the sleep from his eyes in the chair next to her bed. "What the hell happened," she asked confused. "Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing," Remus replied, a look of suspicion on his face. "I-" Selene began confused. "Are you angry with me for this?" Remus blew a stray hair form his forehead. "No, I just am confused. This is the third time this whole fainting thing has happened." "One of those times was because of you if you'll recall," Selene snapped. Remus paled a bit. "Selene, I just," he paused. "can you be more careful?" "I did not do this," Selene snapped. "I think you should leave." There was a pause, as Remus stood, unsure of what to do. "Leave." "Fine," Remus muttered, not looking at her. Taking his overcoat, he walked quickly for the room as Madam Pomfrey entered. "Lets check you out, dear," she said with a smile. "Do you know what happened," Selene asked worriedly, trying her best to push Remus from her mind. "Its amazing, I have never seen anything like this," Madam Pomfrey said, removing the bandages over now healed scars. "At least, not since I worked at St. Mungos. Have you been around any dark magic lately?" "No," Selene said slowly. "Funny, this reminds me of a potion. It's the only thing I can imagine that would open up every cut you ever had," Madam Pomfrey said, searching Selene's face. "I see," Selene replied. "Is it better now?" "Yes, I think you need one more night in here though," Madam Pomfrey began, but before she had finished, Selene had jumped up and, grabbing her clothes, rushed out of the hospital wing. No sooner had she closed the door then she ran head first into Remus.

"I thought you left," she said, trying to fight a smile. "Yeah, well," he said, not looking at her. "I didn't want you to fall down the stairs or anything." "You were right," Selene said in a rushed voice. "I was careless." "What," Remus asked confused. "They have my blood," Selene said tearfully. "They have it and now they'll have power when there is no moon." "Selene, you're glowing," Remus muttered, pulling her into the shadows. "Now explain." "When I went to tutor Bella there was a weird smelling smoke in the room and she had a bubble charm, so she didn't smell it. I did and it made me cough. Then the next day, not twenty-four hours later every cut I ever had opened. Then, trying to stop the blood Lucious used his handkerchief, which was dripping in my blood afterward. No one throws away a handkerchief, Remus. They are going to use my blood to make the potion, I've made it impossible for you all." Remus pulled her to him suddenly, wrapping her in a warm embrace. "None of that is your fault," he said, Selene could hear his voice echoing in his chest. "I was worried those bastards were trying to hurt you all week but I didn't know why. Bella would have got the blood no matter what. From the way Lucious acted, he had no idea she would be so extreme. He was straight out flabbergasted that you were bleeding so much." Selene felt a kiss on the top of her head. "You haven't doomed anyone," he continued. "You'll save us all. We can handle ourselves till then, even if we have to fight like muggles." Selene looked up at his brown eyes, which were determined. "Now you need to go to bed so your awake tomorrow night, it's the full moon," Remus smiled. "The blood won't be more then a day old," Selene muttered. "Come on," Remus said, pulling her hand. "Come play chess with me in the common room. I'll make sure no snakes get you tonight."

Selene woke up to whispering. At first she thought it was the lunar shadows come to tell her something, so she strained her hearing. "This has never happened, I mean, except with you," Whispered a familiar male voice. "I know, this is so awkward," squeaked another voice. "Do we wake them?" "I call not waking naked people," said another voice. Selene rolled her eyes. "You know we're fully clothed right?" There was the sound of jumping as she pushed the curtain open. "Well, well, well," said James, eyebrow raised. "What are you doing here in our dorm?" "I fell asleep, alright," Selene told them rolling her eyes. "Remus was reading a book to me and I fell asleep. Nothing happened." "Sure," James said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Shut up, James," Remus yawned, stretching. "Nothing happened." "Well, anyway," Sirius said, brushing his hand in the air as if pushing away a pesky fly. "Dumbledore wants to discuss next months plans and we need to discuss our plans for tonight." "Tonight," Selene asked confused. "Aren't you feeling sick?" James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus all exchanged looks. "The thing is, Selene," Sirius said delicately. "We're the deer, the dog, and the rat." Selene blinked. "What?" "Yeah," James said pushing up his glasses. "You didn't think those animals always hung around each other did you?" "I never stopped to think about it," Selene told them honestly. "Alright, alright," Sirius said clapping his hands. "Step in time, step in time. Lets go, Dumbledore wants to talk." He then shooed them all out of the dorm, down the stairs, and all the way down the dark tunnel passageway to the place Selene had first been introduced to the lunar shadows. The whole time saying "step in time, step in time," in a cockney accent.

"That's quite enough, Sirius," Dumbledore chuckled as they all entered. "Thank you, professor," Remus said gratefully. Sirius glared at him. "No one appreciates my talent," he said in a heartbroken way, walking to an empty chair and falling onto it. "Sorry, mate," James said patting his back. "It's just that you're not as funny as you think." "So, Selene, " Dumbledore said with a chuckle turning towards her. "I think it best we all discuss what will occur on the night of the ascend." The boys turned to her. "Well," Selene began awkwardly. "I can answer that," said a deep commanding voice. But there was no body present to speak. Selene realize dit had come from her own motuh. She looked at Dumbledore confused. "did that come from you," Peter squeaked, looking fearfully around. "I am Soma. And I will explain exactly what will happen. I am a past moon. I am connected through Selene by our past and future." Selene blushed at the shocked expressions on the Marauder's faces. To her ears, she simply heard Soma's voice. She could not control her mouth to stop it. "At the strike of midnight when the 19th begins, the new moon begins to glow more brightly then the old moon in the sky. Slowly all light from the old moon filters into the new moon on earth. Her powers at this point are more powerful then before. But her vulnerability is at its greatest. For death is not an option that day. As the day goes on this brightness will increase until sundown when no moon rises. In reality, the old moon is simply too dim to see compared to the new shining. But the transfer of power is not complete until an hour before the first day of spring. But the ascend must occur before the suns rise. The transfer of power will be complete by 11, she can ascend after that. However, should the new moon die before this power of transfer occurs, there is risk of no moon for 500 years, or a very dim, unhopeful moon that brings grave danger to all those who obey it."

There was a long pause. As everyone thought about what had been said. Then another voice chimed in through Selene's vocal chords. This one was a more feminine voice, an older woman, "But be warned, new moon and friends, your enemy knows all this as well. Tonight they make the potion for the power of the moon. To defeat them and even the field, the ascend must happen as quickly as possible. The protection of the new moon must begin at the stroke of midnight when the date becomes the 19th and the glowing begins. The enemy knows of the ascending process, they know how to contain it and prolong it. You must not allow it." "Well then," Remus said determinedly. "We'll just start hiding Selene at midnight." "I see no way that Voldemort could capture her from Hogwarts," Dumbledore began slowly, looking them each in the eye one at a time. "But for safety, we will wake Selene and move her to a place to be decided by me that night at midnight. The school will be on lockdown, and I have asked a few allies for their help. Though normally these allies are more self-concerned, they have agreed that for the moon, they will corporate. We know that Voldemort has a potion in the making, but we have enough potions to protect ourselves without magic from wands. Discuss this with no one." Dumbledore turned to Selene. "You must ascend. Ever moment without a moon is a moment of danger for us, and one of power for Voldemort." Selene nodded.

That night she let out a sigh as she pushed hair from her face and felt the brisk air on her face. The full moon shone through the trees of the forbidden forest. Selene snuck stealthily through it, waiting, watching, and listening. She was to meet a werewolf, a deer, a dog, and a rat soon. She looked at her watch. It was midnight. There was a shuffle in the woods behind her and she paused, looking up. Was that them? It certainly wasn't deatheaters; she had done her best to steer far away from that path. She was not frightened and yet she couldn't get over her feeling of uneasiness. She briefly wondered why she kept coming into the forest, each time she felt nervous and as if she were about to meet something she shouldn't. "Rumor had it you would come." Selene jumped and turned to see a tall woman with long black hair, countering her deathly pale skin and dark eyes. And yet despite her emaciated appearance, she seemed to twinkle with beauty in the moonlight. Next to her suddenly appeared two men; similar in build and appearance except that one's skin glittered like caramel while the other seemed deeper and darker. Their hair was shorter then hers, but their appearance still seemed intoxicatingly attractive. Selene felt confused. "So then its true that you are here every full moon. I'm so glad we listened," said the darker of the two men, taking a step forward but suddenly appearing next to Selene. "And she smells tasty," said the woman with a smile. "Control is the essence of tonight," snapped the other man. The first chuckled coming face to face with Selene without making a sound, though he did it so quickly it seemed impossible he was human. "I am Guinevere Choiseul and these are my brothers, Darcy Vigée-Lebrun" she motioned to the caramel skinned man who nodded, tilting his head to the side as a smirk appeared on his face and his eyes met Selene's. "And Launcelot Beau Pre." She nodded towards the remaining man who smiled at her, revealing all his teeth, though his eyes never left hers, his eyebrow raising. She could see two especially sharp teeth in his mouth. "Don't worry," chuckled Launcelot, stepping back but suddenly appearing next to his sister again. "We aren't here to hurt you. We need you." "It's true," Darcy agreed, sitting on the branch of a nearby tree and gazing down at her. "But take it as a compliment that Guinevere thinks you look tasty. She's such a picky eater." "What do you want," Selene asked confused.

"We simply wished to see who the new moon was. Its not every century you meet your next provider," Guinevere replied, tossing her hair behind her. "We also wanted to know who exactly we were protecting on the night of the ascend." "I like her better then Diana already," said Darcy, once again smirking at her. "Can't you just feel the power already?" "How are you guys going to be able to fight in the day," Selene asked confused. Guinevere scoffed. "We can go out in the light. Didn't you read Dracula," asked Darcy. Selene shook her head. "But its especially true on the day of the ascend. The closer we are to you, the more powerful. The only down side is we wont be able to eat for a bit. Other than animals that is," Launcelot said. "But that was Dumbledore's one hitch." The three vampires sighed. "But it's all worth it. 500 years without moon would be a death not worth dying," Darcy replied. "I may be a soulless being from the underworld, but I have a survival instinct." He smirked at Selene and Selene thought once again how attractive all the Vampires were. Just then the sound in the bushes rustles again and an arrow shot out. Darcy jumped and in a flash he was back in a tree. "Centaurs are never very friendly," tutted Guinevere. "Even when they know we are only stopping by. I suppose they wont introduce themselves, timid little things. Lets leave." They nodded at her departing by calling her the new moon. And in the flash they had appeared they were gone. "I've been meeting the most interesting creatures ever since this whole moon thing happened," Selene thought, hearing the sound of retreating hoofs in the bushes. She moved onward into the forest until she heard a familiar growl and saw a deer and dog approach her. The rat shuffled into the path a moment later and then finally came the sound of heavy footfalls and the appearance of the werewolf. His eyes shone hazel tonight under the moon, and he approached Selene cautiously, nudging her with his nose and licking her cheek. "I just met the nicest vampires," she told him, scratching his head. He looked at her, a worried look in his eyes. "Nothing bad happened, lets go." She smiled and he gave a huff as if skeptical before they continued on the path to explore the forest for a bit.

Soon, the 18th of March came and Selene spent the whole day with the Marauders and Lily, climbing trees and having tea with Hagrid. She swam in the freezing lake with Remus, who made the mistake of getting into a splash war, though Selene simply raised her hand and sent a tidal wave of water his way. Then as the night came to an end, she kissed him goodnight outside the entrance to the Slytherin common room. "See you at midnight," he said with a smile before pulling her close. They stood like this for what felt like ten minutes in heavy silence before the sound of the statue moving split them apart. "See you soon," She said with a smile. It would seem like no time, she assured herself and yet part of her wished it would never come. But it did and sooner then she would like she felt herself pulled out of bed, and picked up. "Rem, if you let me just wake up first I can walk by myself," she said groggily, suddenly feeling icy cold. It felt as if a breeze were rolling in. "Oh, so you're awake then, I guess our sleeping potion wasn't as strong as I thought." Selene opened her eye to see a man, supposedly the speaker, though the mask he wore had muffled his voice. He looked down at her with leering eyes. "Won't the Dark Lord be so very pleased to see that you're awake and out of Hogwarts."

Selene fought to wake up quicker, but she could not seem to blink the sleep from her eyes. Instead she looked around dazed at the people around her. They were all robed, all silent, all glancing at her. Each set of eyes showed a different emotion, some seemed to leer, other laughed, other seemed nervous and unsure. Selene had no idea where they were but she had a feeling they were still within Hogwarts territory. The familiar sounds and smells of the forest seemed to convince her. She heard a rustle near them and a few robed deatheaters looked at the bushes quickly. "Faster," hissed one of the robed figures next to her. "We are almost there," the carrier snapped back, shifting Selene's weight on his shoulder. Selene was now awake enough to notice that her wrists and ankles could not separate. She lifted her wrists to see her watch, which wasn't there. "It's only about 11:30," said a voice next to her. Selene turned to look at the only unmasked person. She looked very familiar. Like an older, more wrinkled Bellatrix Black. "Hello there Selene, so sorry about this," said Bellatrix' mother. Selene wondered momentarily if the whole of Narscissa's family had decided to betray her at the same time.

Bella and Narcissa's mother had none of the beauty of her daughters. She did not retain any charm or elegance that Narcissa had, nor did she have any of the beauty and cunning that showed on Bellatrix's face. Instead, her old face was simply haggard with stupid glee, but the sort of face that read like a book. She was clearly not sorry at all. "But you must admit, dear," Mrs. Black said. "My Bella was quite clever to have made that potion to open all those wounds." "I knew it was her," snapped Selene, trying to wipe that smug look off of Mrs. Black's face. Mrs. Black waved her hand as if brushing aside a piece of lint in the air. "not before you bled all over Lucious' handkerchief. I was worried Lucious would panic seeing you bleed. His plan was so much milder. But when Bella said that didn't work, I knew Bella would fix it right up. She is so resourceful." Selene sighed. It was bad enough she had had to listen to such bragging when she visited Narcissa last summer. Hearing it from people kidnapping her was just annoying. There was a sound in the bushes again, but it was so soft and distant sounding, Selene thought maybe she had was hearing things in her desperation. No one else seemed bothered by it. Certainly not Mrs. Black, who continued on her bragging spree. "Narcissa is such a lucky girl to have Lucious, don't you think," she continued, not even looking at Selene's face anymore. Clearly enthralled with her conversation with herself. "But for all the boy's charm and wit, he simply has too much heart. He wanted only to get the drop from you with glass. A stain. But, no matter, when he becomes a deatheater he'll find out how to channel his loyalty." She gave Selene a smile that was reminiscent of the one Bella had as Selene left the potion room. "Don't fall off your broom." Selene sighed, she sure had fallen off her broom now.

"Are we there yet?" snapped a deep voice, gruff and unrecognizable. It occurred to Selene that she was surrounded almost completely by strangers. Strangers and Mrs. Black. She wasn't sure which was more depressing. Being surrounded by strangers, or by Mrs. Black. Her gut said Mrs. Black, but her heart said strangers. Her head meanwhile tried its hardest not to hit the heart and gut, because clearly no matter what, this was a bad situation. "Just a little while longer and we'll be off the protected area. Then we can disapparate," replied another voice, this one softer, but colder, like ice slowly melting down your back. "See, there." The speaker pointed to a clearing a few feet away. But not a step more was taken before three figures appeared, blocking the way. "Move, in the name of the dark lord," snapped one of the robed figures, whipping out his wand. "Yummy," snarled the familiar voice of Darcy, who in a flash had leapt forward, over the flash of purple light shot at him and seemed to appear again just over the deatheater who had shot the spell before landing on him. Selene turned away and tried to close her mind and ears to the sound of eating she could hear. "You seem to be stealing our little moonstone," said the voice of Guinevere. The deatheaters had stopped moving, apparently horrorstruck at the feast going on in the middle of them. "its like a buffet," Launcelot hissed, looking hungrily at all the deatheaters. "he's mine." Selene looked up to Launcelot pointing at the deatheater who was carrying her. She smiled at the two vampires, still ignoring the sounds next to her.

What happened next, happened so quickly that Selene wasn't sure if it was a dream of not. With a yell, the deatheaters all pulled out their wands. A purple blast was shot at Darcy, who leapt into a nearby tree, and right into another purple line. In midair he seemed to freeze, eyes open wide in shock, blood still surrounding his mouth. Then there was the sound of cracking and lines began to appear on his face. Selene watched in fascinated horror as the cracks widened and he began to disappear at a rapid pace, his ashes being carried off in the wind. "What dark magic is this," hissed Launcelot looking at Guinevere. "Dumbledore never told us about this." "It's only temporary," hissed Guinevere who narrowed her eyes at the deatheaters who had formed a line before her, a wall between the vampire and the moon. "We must get to the clearing before midnight, it is 11:50. Lets make this quick," hissed the gruff voice. Then with amazing speed Selene felt herself lifted and thrown forward, over the vampires. Guinevere jumped up and caught her with a single hand. Selene felt the pull and felt her weight begin to drop. She felt herself speed up as she passed Guinevere's frozen and cracking body, three deatheaters hitting her with a purple blast at once. Launcelot watched in horror before charging two of the shooters, snatching them in his arms and biting viciously at their wrists. They screamed in pain, but not before one pulled from his cloak a wooden stake. With a flick of his wand, it punctured Launcelot's heart. As Selene felt herself picked up and rushed toward the clearing, she saw Launcelot, as if in slow motion, turn to face her, a look of bewildered horror on his face. He looked at the moon, dimming slowly out of sight. "The weakest time to fight," he said quietly, though she heard it as if he had whispered it in her ear. "no old moon, and no new moon." Then he fell and with it fell away his remains. Selene stood horrorstruck, surprised at the hot tears that she realized fell down her cheek. She wiped them away with her bound wrists and looked down, something was wrong. Her fingers and toes had begun to go numb, then her hands, then her feet. It moved up her body and met in the middle of her torso, making her go limp. "It's 11:59," shouted someone. "Disapparate!" And as the person carrying her gripped her tightly, she felt a tug behind her navel of disapparation and felt a shock sweep over her body as if by some electric current. The combination of the two made her feel light headed and last thing she saw as they whooshed through the strange realm of stages in-between disapparation and apparation, she saw her hands begin to glow.


	8. The Glowing Illusion

Chapter 8: The Glowing Illusion

Selene awoke to find herself unbound. She sat up. She was in a bed, covers pulled up to her ears (or they had been until she sat up). Scarlet curtains were pulled around the bed. "What's the matter Selene?" Selene turned quickly to the familiar voice. Remus blinked lazily, looking at her, scratching his head. "You look like you've seen a ghost, are you all right," he asked again, a look of familiar concern on his face. "Yeah, I mean," Selene paused confused. "What day is it?" "The 18th of March, why," Remus asked confused, bringing over a calendar from his bedside table. "Today we're suppose to spend the whole day together remembers?" She blinked. She had the strangest sense of déjà vu. "You do still want to spend the day together, right," Remus asked looking into her eyes with his brown-hazel ones. She smiled, pushing the feeling of déjà vu from her mind. "Of course, Rem. Shall we go for a fly?" Remus smiled, kissing her forehead. "Of course, lets just get some breakfast first." They pushed the curtain open to see Peter, Sirius and James smiling at them, James wiggling his eyebrows. "Hey there," said Sirius, eyes dancing with expectation. "Oh hush, we didn't do anything," snapped Selene. The three marauders looked unconvinced. "Breakfast," asked Remus, standing and putting on his robes over his shorts. Selene hadn't noticed he's been shirtless. Funny, she thought, that seemed something she'd normally notice. Must have been her bad dream that had distracted her.

"So they just came and stole you from your bed," repeated Lily confused. Selene nodded. She was sitting outside with the Marauders and Lily, retelling her nightmare. "Wait, wait," Sirius said, rolling over onto his back, "vampires were trying to save you and they died?" Selene nodded again answering, "well, one said it wa sonly temporary so maybe their ashes reconfigure? I'm not sure." "Impressive." Selene blinked at Sirius. His mouth had moved and he had spoken but what had come out was not his voice. It had sounded like… Selene shook her head. There was no way Sirius could sound like Artemis. She was just nervous about tomorrow night. "Well, it was just a dream," squeaked Peter with a smile. He was dangling his feet in the water of the lake lazily. "After all, Dumbledore is the only one the Dark Lord is afraid of, and Dumbledore is here." "True, true," said James. He was sitting next to Lily, arm around her shoulder. "We'll make sure no big bad deatheaters get you." Selene laughed. "Well, now that our picnic breakfast is done," Sirius said, burping as he spoke. "Shall we fly?" Selene and the others rushed towards the castle wall were they had balanced their brooms and hopped on. Lily and Peter watched, Lily afraid of heights, and Peter simply afraid of everything. They decided a relay was in order and so the route was charted. They would go around the astronomy tower three times, through an open window, out another one, under the Womping Willow and over Hagrid's cabin before returning to the quidditch field where the other teammates would be waiting to repeat. First team to finish won. It was Remus and Selene against James and Sirius. Lily shouted go and Selene was left with Sirius, in the quidditch pitch alone.

"Do you care for him?" Selene turned quickly to the familiar calm and rational voice of Soma, a voice only heard a few times before but still recognizable. "What," Selene asked, but she had turned to see not Soma, but Sirius looking at her seriously. "I said you like him a lot, don't you." Selene nodded, looking back at the sky, trying to make her heart still. A breeze blew by with a whisper of " the price of being a God, as the muggles call us, is a high price." But no sooner had it tickled her ear then it was gone. Selene looked back at Sirius; he looked sad and concerned. "Are you alright," he asked carefully. "Yeah, I just keep hearing lunar shadows, way worse then usually," Selene said with a smile. Sirius hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. Their brooms clattered to the ground and Selene felt his chin rest on the top of her head. "It's probably just a symptom of tomorrow, you know?" Selene nodded, before remembering he couldn't see. "I'm-," Sirius paused. Selene wished she could see his face. "I'm very sad your going to ascend and all that junk." Selene felt her own arms wrap around Sirius for a moment. "Me too, Sirius." There was a moment of silence. Then Sirius grabbed his broom and smiled, letting out a bark like laugh. "But as they say, 'keep practicing and discovering. Love and lose. Be careful and aware.'" Selene paused as Remus and James zipped over the edge of the quidditch pitch. "Who says that," she asked confused. Sirius shrugged, getting on his broom and ready to kick off. "Sirius, who says that?" Sirius looked at her confused as James landed, slapping Sirius' hand. "I think you said Mawu did or something." He kicked off as Remus slapped Selene's hand. She kicked off zipping and catching up with Sirius. "When did I say that," she asked confused, blood pumping through her, adrenaline rushing with a feeling of uneasiness. "Just now, didn't you," he asked. Selene felt herself slow to a stop as Sirius zoomed on. Had she mentioned it? She didn't think she had.

As the day wore on, she saw and heard them more and more. Khon's pharaoh hat lay on the grass next to her, and then it was gone. Tsuki-Yomi's voice whispered in the grass, whispering, "Soon you will be brightest of all of us. The most dim was the moon first, but we all seem the same after a certain point." She felt strange. An owl flew over her, not noticing her. No deer came to her as she walked in the forbidden forest. No vampires or centaurs approached. Selene was confused. Was this a symptom of the day before? Did all her powers vanish before rushing back with the rest of the moon? She felt a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. A feeling that seemed to be nudging her mind as if trying to wake it from a daze, but it was speaking so quietly that Selene could barely hear it. Could barely feel it because the touch was so light. Selene felt tired. "After a certain thousand years or so, our souls go wherever souls go, but until then they remain in the moon. To help out. We are less powerful then the new moon, but each helps to train the moons power," explained Yarikh's voice when Peter opened his mouth to squeak a phrase of praise to Sirius.

"You know what will make you feel better," Remus asked kissing her forehead. "What," Selene asked curiously. "A swim lets go." She laughed and they rushed off to change into swimsuits before meeting again at the lake and jumping into the freezing cold water. Selene surfaced, confused. The water wasn't cold at all. It was not warm. It didn't even feel like water. It felt like some Jell-O imitation. She flicked her wrist. No wave was made, no ripple, just a splash from the water that had caught onto her hand. It hit Remus, who laughed. "So you want a splash war, eh," he said with a smile. Selene smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. She looked down at her hands in the water. They looked normal. She could see herself treading water and beneath that… there was a flash of an image.

Selene blinked again. She could have sworn she had seen it in the water, looking up at her expectantly. The face of Artemis, with her mouth open but no swirling cloud of mist. Selene shook her head but behind her lids she saw glowing light. She opened her eyes again to find herself looking at the grass under the tree. She saw the flash of Mawu, simply sitting, eyes closed, breathing out, but no mist was appearing. She turned away to see Remus smiling, splashing her. She closed her eyes again and felt no splash of the water on her face. She could not smell the lake, or the breeze or the grass. Instead she smelled something like fish on a hot summer day. Like mildew and rot. She felt suffocated. She could no longer hear the twittering of birds or the splashing for Remus. She could only hear muffled yelling, getting louder, louder, louder. Then as if right next to her ear she heard the voice of Diana say "Technically, your unconscious." She gasped and opened her eyes to see she was in a bed, surrounded by scarlet curtains. "What's the matter Selene," asked Remus' voice. She turned to see him blinking the sleep form his eyes and scratching his head. He wore a shirt. "Kiss me," she demanded. He blinked again before smiling. "Alright." He lifted her hand and kissed the knuckle. "No," Selene said leaning over him. "Kiss me here." She pointed to her lips expectantly. "I have morning breathe," Remus said with a smile. "Wolf morning breath is worst of all." Selene leaned over and closed her eyes, kissing Remus as forcibly as she could. But on her lips she felt no lips and she could not smell him or feel him or sense him at all behind her closed lids. All she could do was smell and hear the same thing as before, but louder and stronger. And the nagging voice in the back of her head suddenly burst through as loud as if it were screaming next to her ear. But it was not one voice, it was many. It was every familiar lunar shadow she had heard. All yelling at once in her mind as her nose smelled that rotting and her senses felt nothing but empty air. "I was never able to do such things so soon before the spring," declared Ix Chel in her mind . "I couldn't control water with such precision until it was mid winter." "And I hear whispers that even when she is not aglow, she effects those who have conditions effected by the moon," agreed Coyolxauhqui loudly. Selene wanted to cover her ears but with her eyes closed, she felt like her hands could not move. They felt trapped and bonded. "We are all connected by the bond of our tribal blood. Now that you know the tribal secret, you can see us in your dreams," Tsuki-Yomi's calm voice said, though it echoed so loudly Selene felt as if her head would split. "Because you now know what you are, and have used your power, you are connected to the moon. We are in the moon." "After a certain thousand years or so, our souls go wherever souls go, but until then they remain in the moon. To help out. We are less powerful then the new moon, but each helps to train the moons power," explained Yarikh's voice, gruff and commanding, tearing through her headache and worsening it.

Selene forced her eyes open to make the noise stop and she found herself not at Hogwarts but in a cloud of white mist, glowing and pure. With no smell and no sound. Not even crickets. Selene looked around and tried to move but found she was bound to a wall by a chain across her waist and around her arms. Her feet were free. She looked confused. She closed her eyes and opened them again to find the same thing. The only difference was that now a figure moved forward. The long flowing hair and robes of Diana was recognizable almost instantly. "What's going on," Selene asked. Diana pointed and Selene saw that her feet were glowing so brightly that it made her eyes ache. She was barefoot. She had not been able to put on shoes before the deatheaters had kidnapped her from Hogwarts in her dream. She had no shoes now. She looked at Diana confused. "where am I," asked Selene. Diana image seemed to fade a bit. Diana seemed to dim as a breathe of air that left her swirled into white mist and was inhaled by Selene, who coughed. "Technically, your unconscious," Diana replied with a smile, in a voice so soft that Selene would not have heard it had the white mist not been so silent. Then, with a final blink, Selene opened her eyes to find herself in a dungeon lit by only her increasing glow. There was no window. Around her, she heard nothing. She needed to know what time it was. Needed to know if she could ascend. There was the sound of dripping in the corner, the scent of wetness and mildew filled Selene's nostrils and with a flick of her fingers, a puddle in the corner rose, and Selene began to slash at the chains on her arms as if using a nail file.

Selene wasn't sure what time it was, but she could see herself slowly growing brighter. Or maybe that was in her imagination. She sighed. For all she knew she had been here for an hour, a day, a month. Well, maybe not a month, she thought continuing to move the water back and forth. Selene felt the time slip by, she tried counting to figure out how long it took, but by the time she reached five hundred sixty three, she got distracted by the rhythmic beat of the water and had to start again. Then, as she reached forty-five for the fourth time, she felt her hands fall to her side, the iron shackles clanking against the wall and the water falling to the floor in a splash. Selene rubbed her wrists, they were red from the friction of movement against the iron. She patted her pants and shirt. No wand. She stretched, sliding down the wall and out of the chain wrapped around her waist. As much as Voldemort hated Muggles, he seemed to enjoy their form of captivity. Selene stretched again and touched the bars carefully. Nothing happened. "I can't believe he didn't jinx anything," she muttered to herself. "I think its cause he didn't know." Selene jumped and turned to see a faint image of Diana looking at her. "how can I see you," Selene asked confused. "Well, mostly because you're slowly stealing my powers so I am becoming part of you. I'm really a projected figment from your mind," Diana said with a shrug. "Don't worry," Diana added with a smile. "Your not crazy. I do exist. This is simply part of my lunar shadow that remained in the power from the moon you have taken in while you slept." "What time is it," Selene asked confused. "About ten, on March 19th," replied Diana. "I slept almost 24 hours," asked Selene confused. "well, you were jinxed, but yes," Diana replied with a smile. "Only, the jinx they put on you, that illusion. It made it hard to transfer power, so you won't be able to ascend until midnight or one. We are about an hour behind." Selene blinked confused. "What do you mean he didn't know to jinx the metal," Selene asked, pointing to the bars. "well, I never showed Salazar I could move water. I told him, but apparently he didn't take that to mean anything important." There was the sound of a door opening and closing. Then steps on the staircase, slow and echoing. Selene turned back to where Diana had stood but she was gone.

"Yer up," croaked a voice. Selene turned to see a hunched hooded figure, wearing a deatheaters mask. "and out of the shackles. I told the Dark Lord not to use such old and fragile muggle junk," tutted the croaky voice. It sounded as if a frog were behind the mask. "He wants to see you, you know." The door opened and the hooded frog moved into the chamber. "well aren't you the prettiest moon, my dear," croaked the frog. Selene's glow threw shadows on the walls, making the hunched figure seem more hunched and intimidating. He looked like a slow moving rock. An arm appeared in the shadow and reach out with long spidery fingers. On the side of the real robed figure, Selene could see the shine of the keys that did not appear in the shadow, but unlocked the cell they stood in. His eyes leered at her and Selene stepped back, feeling the splash of the water drip hitting the floor next to her bare feet. He walked closer, slowly, still leering. Selene moved her leg over and dipped her foot into the puddle. It had begun to erode the dungeon floor and the water reached her ankle. In a flash Selene had rushed past the leering man, moving her arm so the water in the puddle swelled and fell onto his head all at once. As she passed, her hand caught the keys and ripped them from his robe. It wasn't until after she had closed the door and turned the key, listening to his bewildered sputtering, that she noticed a piece of black robe was still attached to the ring. "You insolent viper," crowed the old frog, tearing off his mask in frustration and throwing it to the ground. "Your not suppose to be able to use magic in here. We took your wand. You wretched whore." Selene could see his old and broken face begin to turn red with anger. He looked like an old toad, just like his voice had sounded. His eyes seemed to pop out with annoyance. "You don't know my kind of magic," replied Selene. And with that she made another motion wit her hands, sending another small wave of water. This one pushed the iron mask on the floor to the bars where she could reach it. As it passed, the mask hit him on the wrist so that his wand dropped to the floor.

With another flick, the water had pushed that towards her as well. He lunged towards the wand, but in a flash she had snatched it through the bars. With a wave, she transfigured her pajamas into black robes like the ones the deatheaters wore. She was relieved to see that the deatheaters had only jinxed the inside of the cell. She put the mask on her face, noticing how the room dimmed to almost complete darkness. She looked around. She just needed gloves and shoes and she'd be almost normal looking. "You'll never get away you know," croaked the man, whose face was against the bars as if trying to squeeze himself through. "Deatheaters will come to visit you and when they find me here, they'll know." He let out an unattractive howl of laughter. Selene continued to search the dungeon. It was almost completely empty. She turned and felt the keys slide in her hands. She lifted the ring. There were four keys on it. Carefully and quickly she took them off the ring. The first she threw to the ground in front of the cell and muttering a charm, a line of light shot out of it illuminating the cell to show an image of herself still chained to the wall, still asleep, in a cell that glowed with the light of the new moon. "You think that will fool anyone," laughed the frog from the other side. The charm cracked for a moment then continued. Selene muttered another spell to two other keys, once removed from the ring. Shoes appeared in their place and she put them on. They were cold like iron, but light like shoes and looked like shoes. She just hoped they would stay looking like shoes. She looked at the last key and detached it from the ring. Waving her wand, it became a glove. Now all that illuminated the room was the charm in front of the cell and her remaining hand. The frog laughed again. "You can't hide the moon," his voice croaked. She frowned. "I'm thinking," she snapped. She muttered a silencing charm and was pleased to hear nothing more from the frog behind the charmed key. She was up a creek with no paddle, however. She needed another key or an object… "For Merlin sake, it's an iron ring." Selene jumped and turned to see the faint image of Diana shaking her head with exasperation. "You were doing so well, I wasn't going to burst in, but this is getting ridiculous." Selene smiled sheepishly, transfiguring the iron key ring into the last glove. She was no longer the source of any light in the dungeon. Only the key charm continued to glow.

Selene moved towards the door, up the stairs and out into a huge mansion. Everything was clean and sparkling. Marble was everywhere. Selene looked around cautiously. She seemed to be in a parlor or dinning room. She found it odd that the entrance to a dungeon would be held in a dinning room or parlor but she shook her head. "Are you alright," asked a familiar voice. Selene looked up and gave a grunted "yes, thanks." Mrs. Black did not have her mask on, but she apparently didn't recognize Selene. "How is she," asked Mrs. Black. "Good. Still sleeping," grunted Selene again. She kept her eyes away, searching for some clue to an exit. "You know she is like a fourth daughter to me. I'm so proud she has the opportunity to help out the cause. I always was worried she was turning away from the right side." Mrs. Black seemed not to mind that she was talking to a possible stranger. Selene felt a swell of anger at the reference to herself. As if she had volunteered to be locked in a dungeon. Mrs. Black had continued to talk, taking Selene by the arm and walking with her as if they were age-old friends. "So nice of Knott to volunteer his grandmother's old place. Its in amazing condition, no? It's untraceable you know. Or so he says. Its worrisome to me that the dark lord didn't feel it necessary to put any more spells on it, but then again if there is no moon, most wizards don't have powers. Personally, I took a sip of that potion and so I'm fine, but that's because of the Black family's prestige. Not all deatheaters were so lucky, you know." Selene wondered if Mrs. Black ever shut up. She looked around to see that she was being lead through the house as if on a tour without introductions to each room.

"Course, he did put one spell on the house. One that would make sure the moon couldn't ascend before he wished it. It goes all the way across the garden to the edge of the wood. Not that he needed to do so much, she'll probably sleep the rest of the night. He only needs her to prolong her ascend long enough to attack a few essential places you know." "All the way to the woods," Selene grunted. They had stopped at a large window, looking out across the garden. From their height, Selene felt like they must be on the third story of the house. A gentle breeze blew past as Selene peered down at the garden to see a large expanse of empty grass that ended abruptly, stopped by the wild forest that stood menacingly and dark. Selene looked up to see no moon but a few star in the sky. "The garden would be completely dark if it weren't for the potion the dark lord made. After all he is the most powerful wizard. He took some of the remaining potion and put it in lanterns. Like having the moon packaged and used for efficiency." Mrs. Black's twitter was getting more and more annoying. Selene looked closely at the pacing deatheaters in the garden. As they stopped and chatted, something seemed off about their hands that their robes did not cover. "are they," Selene began. She gave a gruff cough before continuing in a deeper voice. "Are they glowing a little or am I crazy?" Mrs. Black looked more closely, leaning forward. "Why they are but ever so slightly. That must be the potion," Mrs. Black twittered. A clock somewhere in their hearing range began to chime. "Oh my, eleven already. Must go my dear." As quickly as Mrs. Black had snuck up on Selene, she was gone, bustling away as if she had an auror on her tail.

Selene looked out at the garden. That was her goal. "midnight should be enough time, now that I think of it." Selene jumped and looked around before answering Diana softly, "you have got to stop sneaking up on me." "Oh please dear," Diana said with a roll of her eyes. "If you don't like it, chose a different shadow." Selene gave Diana a dirty look that was lost in translation thanks to the mask. "You have about an hour before this Voldemort character attacks those important places. I'd bet money at least one was full of innocent civilians," Diana continued. "The pressure is not helping my plan," Selene snapped. But when she turned to Diana, there was only empty space. Selene shook her head, touching her mask to make sure it was still in place. She turned back to the forest line, her new goal. As she looked at it, silently thinking what she should do, she saw the tree line shift at a few points. Selene leaned closer to see, pressing her face against the glass. A bare, unglowing hand reached up and pulled a hood over his head as he stepped under a lantern. The figure placed a mask on his head, but not before Selene had spotted the familiar sandy hair and posture of Remus Lupin, and his shadowy, unknown companions.


	9. The Moon's Return

Chapter 9: The Moon's Return

Selene bit her lip and paused, leaning against a wall casually and fixing her mask. She had been following deatheaters that passed hoping to be lead to some sort of exit. So far she had found two bathrooms, three chimneys, and a broom closet. But these two deatheaters that she was following now seemed to be a good choice. They had leering eyes that were colder then ice, which Selene felt must mean they were serious deatheaters. She was pausing to fix her mask because they had paused to look around, one with his hand on the oak door she hadn't passed yet. The one with his hand on the door turned the knob as the other said "Do we know what the problem is," in a gruff voice. Whatever the problem was and whether or not they knew of it was kept secret as the door clicked closed. Selene moved silently and quickly, approaching the door and pausing. She looked around swiftly before pressing her ear to the door. She couldn't hear much, but she could make out a cold voice that seemed to half speak, half hiss. He was commanding and berating the men for something. The men's gruff voices filtered through, saying things like "But, my lord…" and "Dark Lord…." The cold voice always replied to the address. Then there was a hiss of "Crucio" and agonized screaming. Selene shivered and stood, dusting herself off. Definitely not a room she wanted to enter. But the gruff voiced men had led her down a staircase, so she had to be closer to an exit. She decided that since stairwells are often near the end of buildings, she would head that way. Maybe through the next room. No soon had she arrived at the next door than the knob on the oak one began to turn. In a rush, Selene jumped silently into the nearest door and closed it, peering through the peep hole. She watched as the two hooded figures exited, one patting the other on the back who seemed to have gained a limp. They were headed the opposite way. Selene felt herself let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding.

"What do you think your doing?" Selene jumped and spun around. She was face to face with a deatheater, wand pointed at her face. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't think of what to say. She looked into the mask to see hazel-brown eyes. Familiar hazel-brown eyes? She couldn't tell. "Well, this house is so damn confusing," she grunted. "I was just talking with the Dark Lord and he sent me to the Garden but I can't figure out where the damn thing is." Selene had expected a cruel laugh but the eyes seemed to get a confused look. "Look, I suggest you tell me where the New Moon is so we can both go back to what we are suppose to be doing," snapped the voice. It was also a familiar voice. "What makes you think I'd know," Selene snapped back trying to decide if it was worth the risk to guess it was Remus or one of his companions. The figure let out a growl. His eyes widened behind his masks as if he had not expected such animalistic effects. Selene looked over her shoulder and around the room before grabbing the figures arm quickly. With a lightning fast twist of her wrist, the figure dropped his wand on the ground. Who knew those self defense classes when she was 9 would pay off one day? Arm still in hand, she led the figure to the corner of the room.

It was only now she noticed they were in a library of some sort. A bookcase created shadow in the corner they stood. "Take off your mask," she hissed. "What," snapped the figure. "You heard me," she replied. She was pointing the wand at the figure threateningly, narrowing her eyes. There was a pause as the figures eyes darted from her to the wand to the door. Then slowly he reached for his mask and removed it to reveal the familiar face of Remus Lupin, brown hair falling in his steeled face. "Oh thank Merlin," Said Selene dropping the wand and lifting her own mask enough to reveal her glowing face. "Jesus Selene, you scared me half to death," Remus snapped but jumping up and embracing her nonetheless. "Why couldn't you tell it was me," she asked touching his nose. "It must be those smelly clothes your wearing. They smell like mildew and old prunes," Remus replied making a face. "That's the smell of evil, I suppose," Selene replied with a shrug. "And your gloves smell like rust." "Wow, you do have a good nose," Selene said kissing him before puling her mask down again. "But can it lead us out of here?" "I bet it can," Remus replied. He pulled out a mirror and tapped it with his finger. "Boris? You there?" there was a pause before Sirius' face appeared on the mirror. "Yeah? What's up Natasha?" "I told you that is not my code name," Sighed Remus looking over at Selene with exasperated eyes. "Anyway, what's up," Sirius repeated. "I found Luna, lets go." "Roger, I'll be on the forest line where we entered. We'll try and cover you but the missing moon makes us weaker. All that good stuff," Sirius replied before pulling down his mask and disappearing from the mirror. "How'd you do that," ask Selene as Remus pulled down his mask and tucked the mirror away. "James lent it to me. He and Lily are watching over Hogwarts with the centaurs," Remus explained as if this sentence was something he said everyday.

The house was like a game of Clue with libraries, conservatories, dining rooms, and lots and lots of studies. When they had finally made it through the maze of rooms, doors, and staircases, Selene was feeling a bit dizzy. "It's the last of the moon coming in. You must get to the tree line," Diana's voice said softly. It seemed to be fading. Selene looked up to see the image of Diana also seemed to be fading. "Remember, most people get their power from the moon." Then, Diana's figure disappeared completely. "Are you alright," asked Remus as they entered the kitchen. They had found the servant entrance that Remus had used to enter the house. "Yes, just a little tired. Aren't you," she gasped. "No," he replied, sounding surprised. "I feel really strong. Almost like I do as a werewolf." He paused. "I think its you." She shrugged as they nodded at a passing deatheater. "Anything out there," grunted Selene. "Nothing," replied the voice behind the passing deatheater mask as if terribly bored. They pushed open the door and found themselves in the cool night air of the garden. Remus motioned silently to the forest and they began walking towards it, Remus with his wand held out in imitation to the patrolling death eaters. "You here as a fill in," grunted a Deatheater, pausing in front of them. Remus nodded. "Thanks pal," replied the deatheater with a yawn. "Its boring out here though." He began to pass but paused. "Wait a sec there pal, I think you dropped something."

Selene and Remus turned to see him pick up a key from the ground and hold it up. He paused confused then looked seemed to notice something on the ground. "What's wrong with your foot, mate," he asked. A few other deatheaters had paused to look. "It's glowing," hissed a nearby deatheater. Another shouted Accio and Selene felt her deatheater mask fly off of her face with such force that it knocked her hood off. She could see the ground shine with light. "It's the moon," shouted the tired deatheater. "Shit," Remus said, grabbing Selene's hand and running. "What happened to your shoe," he asked as they dodged a jet of red. "Murphy's law?" she said, tossing two other keys that were once her gloves to the ground. "My magic is too weak to fight," hissed Remus as they leaned against a statue. They still had a large open area of field to cover before they reached the forest. "Try. Just try to shoot something," hissed Selene. Remus leaned around the statue. Aiming he said "Stupefy," but all that came out was a short, half-hearted trickle of red. It flew a few inches away before fading. "See," he snapped. She leaned around the statue. "Do it again," she said. "I couldn't see. I missed it." She was leaning as far as she could, her hand touching his to balance herself. He said it again. "Stupefy." But this time a stream of red light rushed from his wand and hit a deatheater who fell over rigid. "What-" he began but she had grabbed his hand and tugged him from behind the statue shouting, "Hex!" Purple, Green, Orange, and red jets flew from Remus' wand stronger then they ever had before as Selene pulled him forward but as they approached the forest Selene noticed the jets pointed at them had paused. She felt Remus tense. Turning, she saw him shaking, nose seeming to stretch and height seeming to grow. "Let go," he said in what was more of a growl then a voice. He was beginning to transform. Even after she dropped his hand, his nose continued to become a snout, his robes stretched and began to rip. Hair began to grow thickly on his face. She rushed them into the woods and stood behind a tree.

Remus was still transforming. Sirius approached. "He wont stop," she told Sirius, waving him away. Remus began to growl and whimper in pain as he continued to grow. His eyes began to dart back and forth as he growled. He could smell the humans around. With a deep breath she touched his nose. He let out another whimper as the hair began to grow twice as fast. "Remus," she said softly. The deep brown eyes paused in their search for food, looking at her. "What time is it," She called loudly behind her, pausing in her soft comforting. Remus' eyes looked confused, even as a werewolf. Somewhere in the dark, Sirius yelled, "quarter past midnight. Lets get back to Hogwarts." She looked over to the garden where more deatheaters were rushing towards them. Looking at the stunned deatheaters and figuring out where they had entered the forest. "Remus, There is only one way to stop your transformation and give everyone their powers back and stop Voldemort form hurting all those people," Selene whispered. Remus let out a whimper at Voldemorts name. "I'll visit you, alright? Every full moon and every time I can," she smiled. "You were the very best thing a moon could ever hope for. The one thing that could make me never want to see a moon in the sky." She paused. "That was cheesy." She took a deep breath, leaning over. In her mind she saw a swirling white ball like the moon. She saw it swirling and expanding in the vast emptiness of her thoughtless mind. She kissed Remus' now very furry cheek and let out a sigh.

From where he was sitting in a nearby tree, Sirius could see Selene and the werewolf Remus talking. He could also hear the approaching deatheater who had apparently been given orders that werewolf or not they must find the moon. Selene seemed worried, looking over at the garden, then back at Remus. Then, she leaned over and kissed Remus on the cheek. In his mind, Sirius made a joke about how she would surely get a hairball now, but the joke stopped at his lips as he saw Selene's shoulders move as if she were sighing. As she did, a stream of white mist escaped from between her and Remus. She began to fall back, as if in slow motion, mouth slightly open and the stream continued to come until finally it had created a floating ball of white mist, glowing and bright as the moon. It stood in place for a moment, growing brighter and brighter as Selene's glow dimmed. It seemed to expand as it grew brighter and soon it was as big as Selene. Then it moved quickly up into the sky, illuminating the forest. Sirius could hear yelling as the Deatheaters entered the forest and shouting as the aurors who had come as backup for him and Remus to find Selene began hexing and jinxing the deatheaters. Quickly he jumped down from the tree, rushing over to the now limp and normal Remus. "Moony, Lets go mate," he hissed. Moony blinked, opening his hazel eyes. "What's going on," he asked confused. "Where's Selene?" Sirius stupefied a deatheater before nodding to the normal looking Selene. She looked as if she were sleeping, eyes closed, mouth slightly open. Mad Eye Moody rushed over, jinxing three deatheaters as he came. "Lets go boys, latch on so we can apparate off." "We can't leave her," Sirius told Moody, motioning to Selene. Remus stood shocked. "There's nothing we can do, boy," Moody retorted, his voice cracking with impatience, waving his wand angrily. "She was our friend we can't leave her here," snapped Sirius. "We have to go," Argued Moody. Remus rubbed his eyes looking over at them. "I'll bring her. I know how to apparate. I took the test over summer. I'll do it." Remus picked Selene up, struggling for a moment before regaining his footing. "Moony, you just transformed," Sirius began but the look of determination on Remus' face stopped him. In a moment, without a word Remus had disapparated. Moody grabbed the shocked Sirius' wrist and they did the same.

Remus had heard that on Halloween nights, when the witching hour was near, the world of the spirits and the human world became so close together that many spirits crossed over. A cloud moved slowly in front of the moon, it made the ancient cemetery creepier then it otherwise was. Nearby, a willow's long arms moved softly in the breeze. "Mate, it's not going to happen." Remus turned to see Sirius leaning against the willow. "Your not suppose to leave the headquarters," Remus reminded him. "Its boring there. Harry and all them are back at school and no one is there except for that mangy house elf and that portrait. I don't even know where Tonks is." Sirius gave a pout, pushing his black hair from his face. "I know you hate it, but if the prophet finds out where you are, or fudge, it'll be the kiss," Remus said sensually. "Look mate, she was my friend too. But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit by her stone," Sirius replied, ignoring Remus' argument. The breeze grew a little stronger. "I'm just saying hi," Remus replied nonchalantly. "Yeah," Sirius asked. "How about you say goodbye." "Goodbye."

They both jumped at the voice. Turning they saw a teenage girl looking at them, wearing a long dark cloak, a Slytherin house crest on the breast. She pushed her long black hair from her face and the crescent moon illuminated her pale face more then one would think possible. "Selene," they both gasped. Selene smiled gently as Remus approached. "How are you-" Remus began but as he approached, Selene's eyes changed from gentleness to a searching look. Her eyes darted to Sirius, a look of guilt filling them. "Oh I can't," Selene sighed and her eyes began to turn purple. In a few moments, Tonks stood before Sirius and Remus, pink spiky hair standing out like a beacon in the gloomy cemetery. Her purple eyes looked at Remus' confused face. "I'm sorry Rem. We thought if you finally got to say goodbye then you'd be able to stop coming out here so often. It's gotten really bad recently. We're all worried," Tonks tried to explain. Remus felt a swell of anger fill his chest as he turned and glared at Sirius, who looked sheepishly at him. "You need to stop coming out here," Sirius began but he was cut off by Remus fist against his jaw. He stumbled backward, rubbing his cheek and looking at Remus. "Blimey! What a punch," Sirius croaked. "Come on Remus, it was all in good intention," Tonks leaded, holding back Remus' arm as if raised for another punch. Above, a cloud moved out of the way and the moon shown down on them. There was absolute silence as they all turned to look at it. "That's so odd," Tonks whispered. "I thought I heard a voice." "How do you even know what Selene looked like," Remus asked annoyed, though his voice was losing its anger. "I found a picture," Tonks replied, not taking her eyes from the oddly entrancing crescent above them. She pulled it from her pocket. It was a picture of Lily and Selene that had been taken in the last month before the ascend. In the background the figures of Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Petegrew rushed back and forth as if chasing something. Selene and Lily waved and smiled, looking behind them in exasperation before laughing.

"If I recall correctly," said a familiar voice. "That was when you all had nicked the snitch and then accidently let it loose." "Come on Tonks," Remus said softly. "Knock it off." "That's not me, Rem," Tonks snapped, a sound of shocked awe in her voice. "Moony, look up," Sirius hissed, nudging him. But before he could, a faintly glowing hand appeared before him, pointing to the running figures in the background. "It took you hours to catch that thing. You all can figure out how to turn into animal, but not how to catch a snitch?" When Remus looked up, Selene looked exactly as she always had, exactly as she had in the picture. "How-" Remus began confused but Selene interrupted "It's a lunar shadow. Its an image that only you can see, you and whoever I decide." "Didn't you say that lunar shadows could only be seen if you were the next moon," Remus asked confused. "Well," Selene said with a smile. "I'm a more powerful moon I suppose. Beside, this seems important." She smiled at Remus' shocked face. "You know, my mate Sirius here had a dream last night." Remus turned to Sirius who looked puzzled. "At first it was really odd, after all not many people dream about badgers and ferrets dueling," Selene continued, ignoring Sirius yell of recognition at the dream. "But in it he had an interesting conversation with a toadstool about you." "You can see our dreams?" Tonks asked. Selene looked at her carefully, a curious look on her face, as if measuring her up in her mind. "Yes, I can. I don't always but sometimes I do. Anyway, I decided to visit." Tonks leaned over to Sirius and whispered, "You talk to toadstools?" "That was a really great dream Nymphadora," Sirius told her with a casual shrug. Tonks glared at him for the use of her first name. "Selene," Remus began, looking sheepishly at her. "I'm sorry." "Sorry," Selene asked surprised. "Is that why you keep coming here? What could you possibly be sorry about?" He sighed and looked into her glowing face. "Sorry I couldn't be strong enough. I didn't even get to say goodbye because I started turning into a monster and-" he was cut off by Selene's stern face. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Your strength has nothing to do with it. You had enough strength to go into the heart of deatheaters to find me. And you had the strength to beat all those deatheaters. And you have the strength now to forgive yourself." Selene leaned forward and kissed Remus cheek. It felt warm with the glow but then colder then before after her lips moved away. "Besides," she whispered next to his ear. "If you don't, how will you ever go after who you want?" Remus looked at her puzzled. Selene smiled knowingly. "She is very pretty you know. And such a fighter, though of course someone related to Sirius would be." Selene smiled at Remus' sheepish look. "Now, if I see you here again with this regret, I'll make the full moon even more strong for your transformation." Sirius rushed forward as Remus took a step back form the glowing Selene, looking at Tonks who began to turn away to walk back to the apparating area. Remus ran to catch up. "So where did you find that picture anyways nymph?" Tonks let out an annoyed sound though her cheeks had a tinge of pink. "I'll show you," she said. "Did you really charge into a deatheater headquater?" "Well, I'll tell you about it," Remus laughed. In a moment they had both disapparated from the cemetery and when they appeared on the dark corner of a street, Remus looked up quickly to see the twinkling crescent moon seeming to shine brighter here then it had at the cemetery.


End file.
